Ivor John Greenwood (15 November 192613 October 1976) was an Australian barrister and 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 held senior ministerial office in the

McMahon McMahon or MacMahon ( or ) may refer to: Places * Division of McMahon, an electorate for the Australian House of Representatives * McMahon, Saskatchewan, a hamlet in Canada * McMahon Line, a boundary between India and China * McMahons Point, a ...

and

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

s. He served as

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

(1971),

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

(1971–1972, 1975) and Minister for the Environment, Housing and Community Development (1975–1976). He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

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 1968 until his death in 1976, aged 49.

Early life

Greenwood was born on 15 November 1926 in

North Melbourne, Victoria North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

. He was the oldest of three children born to Joy Olive (née Vickers) and Bartlett John Greenwood. His father was a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

with the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

. Greenwood attended Hartwell State School and Mont Albert Central State School before winning a scholarship to Scotch College. In 1945 he matriculated to 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 ...

, graduating

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 ...

in 1949. He served as president of the Melbourne University Liberal Club and the Students' Representative Council. He subsequently worked as an associate to two High Court judges,

Frank Kitto Sir Frank Walters Kitto, (30 July 1903 – 15 February 1994), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. Early life and education Kitto was born in Melbourne in 1903, but his family moved to Sydney, when his father, Ja ...

and

Owen Dixon Sir Owen Dixon (28 April 1886 – 7 July 1972) was an Australian judge and diplomat who served as the sixth Chief Justice of Australia. Many consider him to be Australia's most prominent jurist.Graham Perkin �Its Most Eminent Symbol Hidde ...

Legal career

Greenwood was called to the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The 2024-2025 President of the Bar is Justin Hannebery KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. Those who have been admitted to practice ...

in 1951 and shared chambers with future High Court justice and governor-general

Ninian Stephen Sir Ninian Martin Stephen (15 June 1923 – 29 October 2017) was an English-born Australian judge who served as the 20th governor-general of Australia, in office from 1982 to 1989. He was previously a justice of the High Court of Australia from ...

for a period. He "soon established a reputation as a scholarly but practical barrister, working principally in the fields of commercial and local government law". Greenwood served as honorary secretary of the

Law Council of Australia The Law Council of Australia, founded in 1933, is an association of law societies and bar associations from the states and territories of Australia, and the peak body representing the legal profession in Australia. The Law Council represents m ...

from 1963 to 1968. He was also involved with the Law Association for Asia and the Western Pacific (later known as LAWASIA). He was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1969, but according to the ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'' did not "achieve the material success that would have been his had he confined himself to the usual activities of a barrister".

Political career

Early involvement

Greenwood joined the Young Liberal and Country Movement at a young age. He and his close friend

Alan Missen Alan Joseph Missen (22 July 192530 March 1986) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served as a Senator for Victoria from 1974 until his death in 1986. He was known as a leader of the party's social l ...

were known as civil libertarians and opposed the Menzies Government's attempts to ban the Communist Party in 1951. The following year, Greenwood was elected to the executive of the

Liberal and Country Party The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in ...

and chosen as state president of the Young Liberal Movement, serving until 1954. He remained on the state executive of the Liberal Party until 1968, including as vice-president from 1966.

Senate

Greenwood was nominated to fill a casual vacancy in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

, created by

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 ...

's move to 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 ...

in 1968. He was appointed

from March to August 1971 in the

McMahon ministry The McMahon ministry ( Liberal–Country Coalition) was the 46th ministry of the Australian Government. It was led by the country's 20th Prime Minister, William McMahon. The McMahon ministry succeeded the Second Gorton ministry, which disso ...

and then

until the defeat of the government in December 1972 election. Following the 1975 election, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, and became Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development in the Fraser ministry. On 7 May 1976, Greenwood collapsed at

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

after suffering "a massive heart attack and stroke"; he lapsed into a coma. He remained gravely ill and in July his ministerial commission was withdrawn. In October 1976 he died of an acute heart attack with anoxic cerebral complications, survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Ivor 1926 births 1976 deaths People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Melbourne Law School alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian barristers Australian King's Counsel Lawyers from Melbourne 20th-century Australian lawyers 20th-century Australian politicians Ministers for health of Australia People from North Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne Attorneys-general of Australia