John Scrimgeour Lechte (17 January 1921 – 1 July 2002) was an Australian politician.
He was born in
Hawthorn to market gardener John Lavidge Lechte and Caroline Reid Scrimgeour. He attended state schools and followed his father to become a market gardener. During
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 served with the
1st Australian Armoured Division
The 1st Armoured Division was an Armoured warfare, armoured formation of the Australian Army, raised in 1941 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during World War II. While the Division was originally to be deployed to North Afri ...
and with the
9th Division in
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
before his attachment to US intelligence in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
. On 20 May 1944 he married Muriel Kathryn Love, with whom he had three sons. In 1947 he was elected to the
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...
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
Oakleigh, but he was expelled from the party in February 1950 after criticising
Thomas Hollway
Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lea ...
's government. Defeated as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
in 1950, he joined 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 ...
in 1956, but was expelled in 1970. During the 1970s he was the editor of the ''Southern Peninsula Gazette''. Lechte died in
Castlemaine in 2002.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lechte, John
1921 births
2002 deaths
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria
Independent members of the Parliament of Victoria
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
20th-century Australian politicians
Australian military personnel of World War II
Australian expatriates in the Philippines
People from Hawthorn, Victoria
Military personnel from Melbourne
Politicians from Melbourne