Sir Reginald William Colin Swartz

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(14 April 1911 – 2 February 2006) was an Australian Liberal Party politician who was Minister during the governments of

Sir Robert Menzies ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until Disappearance of Harold Holt, his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held o ...

and

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 ...

. In particular, he is best known as the Minister for Civil Aviation between 1966 and 1969. He represented the

Division of Darling Downs The Division of Darling Downs was an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the states and territories of Australia, state of Queensland. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the L ...

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 ...

between 1949 and 1972 and was a member of the Government for the entire length of his parliamentary service. Swartz Barracks at the

Oakey Army Aviation Centre Oakey Army Aviation Centre is situated approximately from the town centre of Oakey in Queensland, Australia. It provides a training establishment for Australian Army Aviation, and also hosts the Republic of Singapore Air Force's "Cougar" ...

is named for him.

Early life

Swartz was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1911 and attended

Toowoomba Grammar School Toowoomba Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding grammar school for boys, in East Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. Toowoomba Grammar was established in 1875, the third school to be ...

. He was born to father John Swartz and worked as a sales clerk before he joined the 2nd AIF during World War II. Swartz was a member of the 2/26th Infantry Battalion of the Australian 8th Division in the

Battle of Malaya The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

at the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. After capture by the Japanese, he was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

Changi prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison complex in the namesake district of Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. It is the oldest and largest prison in the country, covering an area of about . Opened in 193 ...

and worked on the Burma–Thailand Railway. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for his war service. In 1988, he accompanied

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

along with two other parliamentarians who were former POWs, John Carrick and

Tom Uren Thomas Uren (28 May 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1975 to 1977. Uren served as the Division of Reid, Member for Reid in the Australian House of Representatives from ...

, to the opening of the

Hellfire Pass Hellfire Pass (, known by the Japanese people, Japanese as ''Konyu Cutting'') is the name of a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway ("Death Railway") in Thailand, which was built with forced labour during World War II. More than 250,000 ...

Memorial Museum, commemorating the 2700 Australians who died working on the Burma-Thailand Railway.

Parliamentary career

Swartz was elected as the Liberal member for Darling Downs in 1949. As such, he was a "Forty-niner" which was the name for the Liberal and Country Party members first elected in the landslide victory by the Coalition in that year. Menzies appointed Swartz as Parliamentary Secretary for Trade in 1956. In that position, he led Trade Missions to India in 1956 and South East Asia in 1958. He was appointed as Minister for Repatriation in 1961 and served in that position before becoming

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 ...

from 1964 to 1966 and briefly

Minister for Social Services The Minister for Social Services is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Tanya Plibersek following her swearing-in on 13 May 2025 as a result of Anthony Albanese's Labor government being re-elected at the 2025 Aus ...

in early 1965. Harold Holt appointed Swartz as Minister for Civil Aviation in 1966 and he served in that Ministry for three years. John Gorton appointed him as Minister for National Development in 1969 and he served in that position for three years. He was Leader of the House responsible for managing Government business in the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1972. Swartz was knighted in 1972 and retired as a parliamentarian later that year.

References

"Former Menzies Minister dies", ''Herald Sun Victoria''
3 February 2006
National Library of Australia, Papers of Sir Reginald Swartz

External links

* Articles on Sir Reginald Swartz are also on th

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swartz, Reginald 1911 births 2006 deaths Military personnel from Brisbane Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Darling Downs Members of the Australian House of Representatives Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian prisoners of war Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian people of German descent Burma Railway prisoners People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School Ministers for health of Australia Australian MPs 1949–1951 Australian MPs 1951–1954 Australian MPs 1954–1955 Australian MPs 1955–1958 Australian MPs 1958–1961 Australian MPs 1961–1963 Australian MPs 1963–1966 Australian MPs 1966–1969 Australian MPs 1969–1972