Gordon Munro Bryant (3 August 1914 – 14 January 1991) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

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) and represented the

Division of Wills The Division of Wills is an Australian Electoral Division, Australian electoral division of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is currently represented by Peter Khalil of the Australian Labor Party. The electorate encompasses many of the subur ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

from 1955 to 1980. He served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (1972–1973) and Minister for the Capital Territory (1973–1975) in the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

Early life

Bryant was born on 3 August 1914 in

Lismore, Victoria Lismore is a town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located on the Hamilton Highway west of Melbourne. It is part of the Corangamite Shire Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. At the 2016 Census in Australia, ce ...

. He was the son of Agnes Keith (née Bain) and Donald Munro Bryant. His father, a storekeeper and farmer, was the nephew of Victorian premier James Munro. Bryant moved to Baxter as a child and attended Frankston High School. He won a teaching scholarship and taught at Callaghan Creek (near Mitta Mitta), Pearcedale, and Mittyack. His teaching career was interrupted by the Second World War, but after the war's end he became a high school teacher at Upwey. He completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

( Hons.) at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1950, having also studied at Melbourne Teachers' College before the war.

Military service

Bryant enlisted in the Citizen Military Force in 1934. He was called up for full-time duty in 1942 and was transferred to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in January 1943. He remained in Australia until 1945, when he participated in the Battle of Balikpapan as a captain in the 2/33rd Battalion.

Politics

Bryant was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1955. A passionate supporter of land rights, he was president of the

Aborigines Advancement League The Aboriginal Advancement League was founded in 1957 as the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League (VAAL), is the oldest Aboriginal rights organisation in Australia still in operation. Its precursor organisations were the Australian Abori ...

for seven years, from 1957 to 1964. After seventeen years in Parliament, Bryant joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

, becoming Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in 1972. A year later he became Minister for the Capital Territory. As Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, he was instrumental in the Whitlam government's historic land rights deal with

Vincent Lingiari Vincent Lingiari (; 13 June 1908 or 1919 – 21 January 1988) was an Australian Aboriginal rights activist of the Gurindji people. In his early life he started as a stockman at Wave Hill Station, where the Aboriginal workers were given no ...

and the Gurindji people. Bryant retired in 1980, and his electorate was taken over by future Prime Minister

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

. Bryant had earlier resisted pressure to retire early in order to expedite Hawke's entry to Parliament via a by-election.

Personal life

Bryant was married and had two sons. He died in January 1991, eleven months prior to Hawke's ousting as Prime Minister.

References

*Australian House of Representatives HANSARD, "DEATH OF HON. G.M. BRYANT, E.D.", 1991-02-12 (excerpt availabl
online
. *"PM lent hand to land rights", Karen Middleton, ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', 2004-01-01. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Gordon 1914 births 1991 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (state) Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian schoolteachers Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wills Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia University of Melbourne alumni Australian MPs 1955–1958 Australian MPs 1958–1961 Australian MPs 1961–1963 Australian MPs 1963–1966 Australian MPs 1966–1969 Australian MPs 1969–1972 Australian MPs 1972–1974 Australian MPs 1974–1975 Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980