Percy Raymund Smith (12 January 1920 – 10 February 2002) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Biography

Smith was born in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

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 ...

, the son of the Percy Reginald Smith and his wife Anne (née Kennedy). He was educated at St Agatha's Convent until 1926, then attended St Columban's College in

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

, before finishing his schooling at

St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace (colloquially known as Gregory Terrace, Terrace or GT) is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Found ...

. He began his working life at

Shell Australia Shell Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Shell. Shell has operated in Australia since 1901, initially delivering bulk fuel into Australia, then establishing storage and distribution terminals, oil refineries, and a network of service sta ...

and the

Queensland National Bank The Queensland National Bank is a former bank in Queensland, Australia. History In 1872, the bank was established in Brisbane. In December 1914, the bank had its head office in Brisbane with branches throughout Queensland at Allora, Queensland, ...

before

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 ...

commenced and he joined the

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal 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-general of Aus ...

as a pilot in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and Darwin,MOTION OF CONDOLENCE
—

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

. Retrieved 27 April 2016. being discharged in 1945 at the rank of Flight Lieutenant.SMITH, PERCY RAYMUND
— World War II Nominal Roll. Retrieved 27 April 2016. As part of the post-war reconstruction scheme, Smith passed the senior public university examination and graduated from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

with 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 ...

. He was a member of the RAAF Reserve from its formation in 1949 and a flying instructor with the Citizen Air Force in 1951. In 1964 he became a Deputy Judge Advocate General for RAAF, holding the role until 1976 and by 1967 he had rejoined the RAAF as a Staff Officer in Vietnam. He married Cecile Judith Margaret Clowes and together had three sons and a daughter. He died on the Gold Coast in February 2002 with his funeral being held at St Kevins Catholic Church, Geebung.

Public life

Representing 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 ...

, Smith won the seat of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

at the

1957 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 3 August 1957 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The major parties contesting the election were the Queensland Labor Party led by Premier Vince Gair, the L ...

s, defeating the sitting QLP member, Thomas Rasey. He remained the member until he retired just prior to the

1969 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 17 May 1969 to elect the 78 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Country- Liberal Coalition won its fifth consecutive victory since it won government in 1957. It w ...

s to be a foundation member of the first Law Reform Commission of Queensland. Whilst Smith was never a minister, he held several roles in the parliament: * Member of the Government Committee to Investigate Youth Problems * Temporary Chairman of Committees * Member of the parliamentary mission to Asia - 1968 * Overseas study tour of parliaments and parliamentary institutions - 1971 * Chairman of the all-party committee investigating motor vehicle insurance * Chairman of the Parliamentary Justice Committee - six years * Chairman and government representative of the advisory committee for legal aid under the legal assistance Act - 1965 He was reappointed three times to the Law Reform Commission of Queensland before contesting the ward of Stafford in the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

election in 1972. He then won the ward of Chermside, holding it for two terms. Smith was on many other committees including the Board of Advice for the Lifeline's Consumer Credit Counselling Service, the 1958 and 1962

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

Committees. He was chairman of more than 40 Housing Societies and president of the United Service Club, the Kedron-Wavell RSL Club, the Air Force Association (North Brisbane Branch), and the United Service Institute of Queensland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Percy Raymund Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1920 births 2002 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace University of Queensland alumni