William Tevlin Arthur (16 April 1918 – ) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1966 to 1969, representing the New South Wales seat of Barton. He was an unsuccessful candidate for political office on several occasions at state and federal level and later worked as a staffer for Prime Minister

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician, farmer and airman who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. He held office as the leader of the leade ...

. He was murdered at the

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a state park, protected national park that is located in the Sutherland Shire local government area in Southern Sydney and in the City of Wollongong local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Au ...

in 1982.

Early life

Arthur was born on 16 April 1918 in

Arncliffe, New South Wales Arncliffe is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Arncliffe is located 11 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Baysid ...

. His father was a carpenter. Arthur enlisted in the

Citizen Military Force The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

in August 1940, serving as a bombardier. He transferred to the Australian Imperial Force in September 1942 and was commissioned as a lieutenant. He served in New Guinea and Borneo during the war and was transferred to the reserve of officers in September 1946. After his military service, Arthur worked for shipping agents Birt and Co. Pty. Ltd. and was an active trade unionist as a member of the Shipping Officers' Association. He was employed as the company's research officer where he produced "an annual economic and financial sruvey of Australia, an annual coverage of the wool industry, and edited and wrote for a monthly shipping and trade magazine". He was also a lecturer with the Australian Army Education Service.

Politics

Arthur was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

at the 1953 state election, standing against

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) MP Clive Evatt in the seat of

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

. He subsequently contested the

seat of Barton at the 1954 federal election, standing against Clive's brother

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General of Australia, Attorney-General and Minister for For ...

, the federal leader of the opposition. He recontested Barton against H. V. Evatt at the 1955 election and against Len Reynolds at the 1958 election, coming within a few hundred votes of victory on both occasions. On his fourth attempt, Arthur was elected to Barton in the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

's landslide victory at the 1966 federal election, defeating Reynolds. His

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

to parliament focused mainly on foreign affairs and included a call for increased foreign aid to Asia and a recollection of his experience in "addressing anti-Communist underground meetings in Czechoslovakia". Arthur served on the Joint Statutory Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings from 1967 to 1969. With his seat regarded as a key electorate for the Liberal Party, he concentrated on local matters including the reclamation of the

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

shoreline, the maintenance of the jet curfew at

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

, and opposition to a second airport at Towra Point. He was defeated by Reynolds at the 1969 election after a single term in office.

Later life

After his parliamentary defeat, Arthur joined the office of Prime Minister

as a research officer. He also acted as Gorton's press secretary in the absence of Tony Eggleton. His position was terminated by the new prime minister

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988), also known as Billy McMahon, was an Australian politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia ...

following the 1971 Liberal leadership spill.

Personal life

Arthur was a "keen supporter of the arts" and served on the board of

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur a ...

, including as deputy chairman in 1978. Earlier in his life he was a gymnastics and lifesaving instructor with the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

and a volunteer social worker.

Murder

Arthur was stabbed to death on or about 28 February 1982, aged 63, at his holiday cabin at South Era Beach in the

. His naked body was discovered on 5 March 1982 in a "decomposed state", with eleven stab wounds. Garry Andrew Wait, a 20-year-old waiter, was charged with Arthur's murder. He pleaded guilty to

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

but not guilty to murder, on the grounds that Arthur had made " homosexual advances toward him". He additionally alleged that a police sergeant had told him that he would only be charged with manslaughter, as Arthur was known to be homosexual. Wait was convicted of murder in the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

in February 1983 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The presiding judge Colin Begg found that "no evidence had been given that Mr Arthur was a homosexual", that Arthur had been stabbed in the back while doing a crossword puzzle, and that Wait was a heroin addict with a history of violent offences.

References

1918 births 1982 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Barton Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Australian MPs 1966–1969 Australian murder victims People murdered in New South Wales 1982 murders in Australia {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub