Ralph James Dunnet Hunt AO (31 March 192822 May 2011) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

and served as the party's deputy leader from 1984 to 1987, under

Ian Sinclair Ian McCahon Sinclair (born 10 June 1929) is an Australian former politician who served as a Member of Parliament for 35 years, and was leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. He served as either a minister or opposition frontbencher ...

. He was a senior minister in

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, serving as

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 ...

(1971–1972),

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

(1975–1979), and

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

(1979–1982), and Transport and Construction (1982–1983). He represented the New South Wales seat of Gwydir 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 1969 to 1989.

Early life

Hunt was born in

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Hi ...

, New South Wales to an established farming and grazing family, which traditions he continued after completing his schooling at

The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...

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 ...

. His mother's family, the Dunnetts, owned the ''North Western Courier'' newspaper. He was a councillor of Boomi Shire Council from 1956 to 1968 and vice-president from 1962 to 1968.

Politics

He won the seat of Gwydir in the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

for the Country Party at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in June 1969 following the resignation of Ian Allan. He was appointed

in the Second Gorton Ministry in February 1971 and retained that position 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 ...

until the defeat of the government at the 1972 election. Following the Liberal-National Country Party Coalition's win at the 1975 election,

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

appointed him

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 ...

. He was responsible for introducing Medibank Mark II. In December 1979, Fraser appointed Hunt

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

. His portfolio became Transport and Construction in April 1982, but the coalition government was defeated at the 1983 election. He had returned to the backbench in preparation for retirement; but when

Doug Anthony John Douglas Anthony (31 December 192920 December 2020) was an Australian politician. He served as leader of the National Party of Australia from 1971 to 1984 and was the second and longest-serving deputy prime minister, holding the position un ...

resigned in 1984, Hunt was persuaded to return to the front bench and was elected Deputy Leader of the National Party to

, holding the position from 1984 to 1987. He became shadow minister for primary industries, and resigned from Parliament in February 1989.

Personal life

He was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in January 1990. Ralph Hunt died in

on 22 May 2011, aged 83.Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 2011
/ref> He was survived by his wife Miriam (Mim) née McMahon, whom he married in 1953; and three children.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Ralph James Dunnet Members of the Cabinet of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gwydir Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1928 births 2011 deaths Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Scots College (Sydney) Ministers for health of Australia Australian MPs 1966–1969 Australian MPs 1969–1972 Australian MPs 1972–1974 Australian MPs 1974–1975 Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983 Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990