Sir Gordon Freeth,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(6 August 191427 November 2001) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He 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 1949 to 1969, including as a minister 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 ...

governments from 1958 to 1969. He later served as

Ambassador to Japan The is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Beginning in 1854 with the use of gunboat diplomacy by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year pe ...

from 1970 to 1973 and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1977 to 1980.

Early life

Freeth was born in

Angaston, South Australia Angaston is a town on the eastern side of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, 77 km northeast of Adelaide. Its elevation is 347 m, one of the highest points in the valley, and has an average rainfall of 561 mm. Angaston was origin ...

, the son of Robert Freeth (1886–1979) and Gladys Mary Snashall. He attended

Sydney Church of England Grammar School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

and the

Guildford Grammar School Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, coeducational Primary school, primary and Secondary school, se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, where his father was Headmaster from 1928 to 1949. In 1937 he rowed in the bow seat of the Western Australian men's eight which contested the

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

at the Australian Interstate Regatta. He was awarded a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

by the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

in 1938. That same year he was selected to row for Australia and won a gold medal in the coxed fours in the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games were the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 yea ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 1939 he married Joan Baker and they had twin daughters, Felicity and Susan and a son, Robert. In 1939, he began practising law in

Katanning, Western Australia Katanning is a town located south-east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Southern Highway. At the census of 2021 the population was 4,057. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Katanning had a population of 3,687. History The ...

. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

and he flew Beaufort bombers in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and had been promoted to flight lieutenant by 1945, when he was demobilised.

Political career

Freeth was elected as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

member for

Forrest Forrest may refer to: Places Australia *Forrest, Australian Capital Territory *Forrest, Victoria, a small rural township *Division of Forrest, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia *Electoral distric ...

in the 1949 election. He actually finished third on the primary vote behind

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

incumbent and minister

Nelson Lemmon Nelson Lemmon (22 March 1908 – 20 March 1989) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Minister for Works and Housing (1946–1949) in the Chifley government. He played a key role in esta ...

and the Country Party's

Arnold Potts Brigadier Arnold William Potts, (16 September 1896 – 1 January 1968) was an Australian grazier and army officer who served in the First World War and led the 21st Brigade of the Second Australian Imperial Force during its defence of the K ...

, a hero of both World Wars. On the third count, however, Potts' preferences flowed overwhelmingly to Freeth, allowing Freeth to defeat Lemmon on a swing of 4.4 percent. Freeth would hold the seat comfortably for most of the next two decades. He was appointed

Minister for the Interior 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 ...

and Minister for Works in 1958 and in 1963 he was appointed Minister for Shipping and Transport. In February 1968, he was appointed Minister for Air, replacing

Peter Howson Peter Howson OBE (born 27 March 1958) is a Scottish painter. He was a British official war artist in 1993 during the Bosnian War. Early life Peter Howson was born in London of Scottish parents and moved with his family to Prestwick, Ayr ...

. He was appointed

Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

, replacing

Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding minis ...

, in February 1969 when Hasluck became

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. In this role, Freeth made some unfortunate comments about relations with Russia, which in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

atmosphere of the times were interpreted as being somewhat 'soft on communism'. Freeth was defeated at the 1969 election by 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 ...

candidate, Frank Kirwan. His defeat at a time when the government of which he was a part was generally secure was attributed in part to his statements about relations with Russia, but also to discontent by farmers in his largely rural electorate who were suffering a degree of economic recession at the time. Freeth was

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

from 1970 to 1973 and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1977 to 1980.

Death

Freeth died in Perth in 2001, predeceased by his wife, but survived by his three children.

Honours

Freeth was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in 1978.Profile
itsanhonour.gov.au; accessed 21 June 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeth, Gordon 1914 births 2001 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Forrest Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Cabinet of Australia Ministers for foreign affairs of Australia Royal Australian Air Force officers Rowers at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia People educated at Guildford Grammar School High commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom Permanent representatives of Australia to the International Maritime Organization Ambassadors of Australia to Japan Australian male rowers People from Angaston, South Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rowing University of Western Australia alumni People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School 20th-century Australian public servants Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian World War II pilots Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games Sportsmen from South Australia Australian World War II bomber pilots 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australian MPs 1949–1951 Australian MPs 1951–1954 Australian MPs 1954–1955 Australian MPs 1955–1958 Australian MPs 1958–1961 Australian MPs 1961–1963 Australian MPs 1963–1966 Australian MPs 1966–1969