Gerald Percy Wild MBE AM (2 January 1907 – 11 October 1996) was an Australian politician who served as a

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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

from 1947 to 1965. He was a minister in the governments of Sir

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, ...

and Sir

David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Pr ...

, and later served as Agent-General for Western Australia from 1965 to 1971.

Early life

Born in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

, Sussex, to Alice Hilda (née Heather) and Edwin Percy Wild, a yeast merchant, Wild was educated at

Shoreham Grammar School Shoreham College is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 16, which is located in Shoreham-by-Sea on the Sussex coast between Brighton and Worthing. The school is a charitable trust whose trustees form the College Council. The ...

. He emigrated to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in 1923 as one of the Barwell Boys, as part of an assisted migration scheme. He was initially employed as a farm apprentice at Langhorne's Creek and Loxton, and then went to work in the mines at

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It i ...

. Wild returned to South Australia in 1930, working at an ice works in

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

and at a mill in

Moonta Moonta may refer to: Places *Moonta, South Australia, a locality in the Copper Coast Council including: ** East Moonta ** Moonta Bay ** Moonta Cemetery ** Moonta Mines ** North Moonta *Corporate Town of Moonta The Corporate Town of Moonta was ...

. In 1936, he went to the Western Australian goldfields, working at mines in

Norseman The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...

and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area inclu ...

. In November 1939, Wild enlisted in the 2/11th Battalion. He saw service in the Middle East,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, and

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

, and was

wounded in action Wounded in Action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continui ...

in May 1941, gained the MBE (Military Division) in July 1941, and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

in March 1942. By the end of the war Wild had reached the substantive rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and the temporary rank of major, and was serving as a camp

commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Politics and later life

Wild had been a member of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two pri ...

in South Australia prior to the war, and on returning to Western Australia joined the newly formed Liberal Party. Setting himself up as a businessman, he purchased property at Kenwick and Forrestdale, farming poultry and also establishing an electrical wholesale business. He stood for the Liberal Party in the seat of Swan at the 1947 state election, and successfully transferred to

Dale Dale or dales may refer to: Locations * Dale (landform), an open valley * Dale (place name element) Geography ;Australia * The Dales (Christmas Island), in the Indian Ocean ;Canada * Dale, Ontario ;Ethiopia *Dale (woreda), district ;Norway *D ...

at the 1950 election, after Swan was abolished in a redistribution. When the second McLarty–Watts government was sworn in on 6 April 1950, Wild was named assistant

Minister for Forests Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

(to

), assistant

Minister for Mines Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government ...

(to Charles Simpson), and assistant Minister for Housing (to

). In October 1950, he was made a full minister, with responsibility for the forests and housing portfolios (Simpson remained Minister for Mines). The Liberals were defeated at the 1953 election, but regained power in 1959, under David Brand. In the Brand–Watts and Brand–Nalder coalition governments, Wild was Minister for Works and Minister for Water Supplies, and later also Minister for Labour (from 1962). He was reelected to parliament in 1965, but less than a month later resigned to take up the position of Agent-General for Western Australia. The resulting by-election was won by Cyril Rushton, a future

deputy premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

. Wild was agent-general until March 1971, when he was succeeded by another Liberal MP, William Bovell. In later life, he served on the boards of various Australian companies, including the Australian division of

Taylor Woodrow Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until its merger with rival George Wimpey to create Tay ...

, as well as sitting on the committee of the

Western Australian Turf Club The Western Australian Turf Club (WATC), later known as Perth Racing, was established in late nineteenth century as an elite social institution and administrator of the Western Australian horse racing industry. They manage two racecourses in P ...

. Wild was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian ...

(postnominals AM) in 1980, "for parliamentary service". He died in Booragoon, a suburb of

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, in 1996, aged 89, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

.Metropolitan Cemeteries Board
Retrieved 11 March 2015. He had married Virginia Mary "Jean" Baxter in 1944.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Gerald 1907 births 1996 deaths Agents-General for Western Australia Australian Anglicans Australian Army officers Australian company founders Australian corporate directors Australian military personnel of World War II Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery English emigrants to Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Shoreham College People from Chichester 20th-century Australian politicians

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References