Wallace Clyde Fife (2 October 1929 – 16 November 2017) was an Australian politician and minister in the New South Wales Government and Federal Government. He served for 35 years as a Member in both the New South Wales Parliament and the Federal Parliament.

Early life

Fife was born in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

, New South Wales, and was educated at Wagga Wagga Public School, Wagga Wagga and Canberra Grammar School. In 1948 he started working in the federal secretariat of 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 ...

and in 1949 he joined his family business, Fifes Produce Pty Ltd, in Wagga Wagga. He married Marcia Hargreaves Stanley in May 1952 and they had two daughters and two sons.

Political career

Fife was elected as the member for

in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

in 1957. He was Minister for Mines from June 1967 to January 1975, Minister for Conservation from March 1971 to June 1972, Minister for Power from June 1972 to January 1975 and Minister for Transport and Minister for Highways from January 1975 until his retirement from the New South Wales Parliament in October 1975. Under his ministership many rural railway stations were closed. The member for the federal seat of Farrer David Fairbairn had announced his resignation and Fife was pre-selected as the Liberal candidate for the next federal election. Fife was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

as the member for Farrer at the election on 13 December 1975. He was Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs from July 1977 to December 1979, Minister for Education from December 1979 to May 1982 and Minister for Aviation from May 1982 until the defeat of the

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

at the March 1983 election. Following an electoral distribution that moved Wagga Wagga into the

Division of Hume The Division of Hume is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It lies on the outskirts of southwestern Sydney. Geography Si ...

, he stood for and won that seat at the 1984 election. His role in Opposition included a stint as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives between May 1989 and April 1990, since Liberal deputy leader Fred Chaney was still a Senator. Fife retired from parliament prior to the 1993 election. His departure came as a result of seat redistribution from which the National Party benefited and Fife was resentful to Liberal Leader John Hewson for not saving his career. Fife and others came to see Hewson's leadership as ineffective and Fife's departure was seen as evidence of Hewson not having much influence in the Liberal Party.

Honours

*Honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(HonDLitt) from

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain (British Army and Royal ...

. *

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

(1 January 2001), "For service to Australian society through the Commonwealth and state parliaments and government".

Notes

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, Wallace Clyde 1929 births 2017 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Farrer Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hume Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia People educated at Canberra Grammar School People from Wagga Wagga Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983 Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Ministers for education of Australia Ministers for energy (New South Wales) Ministers for the environment (New South Wales)