Neville Thomas Eric "Nev" Hewitt (19 October 1920 – 19 July 2016) was an Australian politician. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

Early life

Hewitt was born at

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory, Australia * Theodore, Queensland, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore Reservoir, in Saskatchewan People * Theodore (gi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in 1920 to Herbert Deane Hewitt and his wife Mildred Sarah Elizabeth (née Davey). He started his schooling in Theodore before completing his education at

Rockhampton Grammar School The Rockhampton Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational, day and boarding school located in The Range, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia catering to students from Early Learning through to Year 12. History The sch ...

World War II

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 ...

, reaching the rank of

Flying Officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

. Hewitt was aboard a

Wellington Bomber The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of ...

when it was shot down over

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. He managed to parachute out and endured an artillery duel before landing and breaking his ankle. Over four nights he managed to crawl back to where his plane had crashed and destroyed anything of value to the enemy. He was finally rescued by a British patrol and for his actions was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

and the

Air Force Medal The Air Force Medal (AFM) was a military decoration, awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned officer, comm ...

. After the war, he returned to Theodore and worked at Forest Hills Station till 1948. Hewitt then worked as manager for Australian Estates in Eidsvold till 1956 at which time he entered Queensland politics.

Politics

At the 1956 Queensland election Hewitt won the seat of

Mackenzie Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to: People * Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Clan Mackenzie, a Sc ...

as a candidate for the Country Party. It was the only seat his party gained from the Labor Party, winning it by just 46 votes after a second count. At the 1972 election his seat was abolished and he moved to the electorate of Auburn, holding it till his retirement from politics in 1980. From 1969 till 1980 Hewitt held several Ministerial roles including Water Resources, Aboriginal and Islander Advancement, and Local Government. During his 12 years as a Minister 10 major dams were built, the Brigalow Land Development Scheme was introduced, and the Moura and Blackwater mining developments commenced.

Personal life

In 1946, he married Nancy Dorris Freeman and they have five children -Geoffery, Denise, Ian, Peter and Rodney. Fifteen grandchildren Kate, Lachlan, Nathan, Cameron, Anna, Rebecca, Thomas, Jessica, Kimberley, Callan, James, Bethany, Hamish, Charles and Fletcher. In his younger days Hewitt was an amateur jockey and rode 300 winners. Hewitt died on 19 July 2016 in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

Legacy

Landmarks which bear Hewitt's name include Theodore's Neville Hewitt Park and the Neville Hewitt Weir in

Baralaba Baralaba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Banana in central Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Baralaba had a population of 324 people. Geography The Dawson River forms the western boundary of the locality. The town ...

which was built in 1976 enabling water to be supplied to the Aboriginal community of

Woorabinda Woorabinda is a rural town and locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda, Queensland, Australia. It is an Aboriginal community. In the , the locality of Woorabinda had a population of 1,019 people with 91.6% identifying as Aboriginal or T ...

. The Neville Hewitt Bridge built over the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton was also named in Hewitt's honour and officially opened on 16 August 1980 to cater for the city's increasing traffic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Nev Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1920 births 2016 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Shot-down aviators Australian recipients of the Military Medal Recipients of the Air Force Medal People educated at Rockhampton Grammar School