Shane Dunne (later Sir Shane) Paltridge was born in Leederville, Western Australia (WA) on 11 January 1910. He was educated at state schools in WA and Queensland and at Fort Street High School, Sydney. He later worked for the National Bank of Australasia in New South Wales and WA (1926-36), before managing an aunt's hotel in Perth (from 1936).
Paltridge enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 12 February 1940, but was discharged on 3 December 1941. A month later he enlisted with the 2nd Australian Imperial Force and served in New Guinea and Borneo as a Gunner with the 2/7 Australian Field Regiment. He was discharged on 5 December 1945.
In 1951, Paltridge entered federal politics as a Liberal Senator for Western Australia and was a member of that state's Liberal Party executive from 1947. During his Parliamentary career of nearly 15 years he held three senior portfolios:- as Minister for Shipping and Transport (1955-60), Minister for Civil Aviation (1956-64) and Minister for Defence (1964-66) and acted in various portfolios on several occasions. The Australian National Line was established during his term as Minister for Shipping and Transport and, as Minister for Defence, he supported more active involvement in the Vietnam War. Paltridge was a member of the Australian Parliamentary delegation at the inauguration of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea (1951). He was also a member of Parliamentary committees on Public Accounts and Audit (1952-55), Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings (1953-55) and Standing Orders (1964-66); Deputy Leader of the Government in Senate (1959-64) and Leader of the Government in the Senate (1954-66).
Sir Shane Paltridge was made a Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in January 1966. He died in South Perth later that month, in the last week of the Menzies Government.
Sources :
A Biographical Register of the Commonwealth Parliament 1901-72
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 15, 1940-1980 'Kem-Pie', pp 563-4
Parliamentary Handbook 1965, p 663
Parliament Debates
Who's Who in Australia 1965, pp 186-7