JOHN GREY GORTON

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Scandal and enmities besmirched many of John Gorton's 1155 days as Prime Minister. Critics blamed his wilfully independent spirit for his ultimate downfall, but Gorton was his own man and he went his own way.

In most ways, Gorton's background was that of a blue-ribbon Liberal. Born in 1911, Gorton was the son of a wealthy Englishman. His mother died when he was seven and thereafter he spent his youth at exclusive boarding schools, including Geelong Grammar. The shock of his mother's death, followed by virtual exile from what had been a happy home, are said to have marked him deeply.

After matriculation, Gorton worked for a while on his father's property, an orchard in the prosperous irrigation area of Kerang in northern Victoria, before going to Oxford University. When he returned in 1935, he brought with him an American wife.

On his father's death in 1936, he took over management of the property and became interested in country politics. By 1939 he was secretary of the local branch of the Country Party. In 1940 he joined the RAAF and began four adventurous years as a fighter pilot in Britain, Malaysia and New Guinea. An aircraft crash which inflicted severe facial injuries, followed by prolonged plastic surgery, caused his discharge in 1944.

On his return to the Kerang property he ventured into local government, becoming a member of the Shire Council and, eventually, Shire President. Admiration for Robert Menzies made him switch from the Country Party to the Liberals and to make an unsuccessful attempt to enter the State Parliament. In late 1949, he was elected as a Liberal senator.

For nine years Gorton worked his way up from comparative obscurity until Menzies appointed him Minister for the Navy. During the next nine years he climbed steadily through various Cabinet positions to become Leader of the Government in the Senate. By 1967 he was a popular Liberal figure with an all round Australian image. Tall, lean and athletic, with the rugged features caused by his war wounds, he usually dressed casually and he seemed to have the informality which appeals to Australians. Charm, humour, decisiveness and the ability to inspire loyalty all made him a natural leader. Education in exclusive Australian schools and at Oxford, a fine war record, a country property, membership of the 61ite Melbourne Club and a strong anti-Communist bias all appealed to the upper echelons of the Liberal Party.

After Holt's death, 'Black Jack' McEwen's support helped Gorton win the Liberal leadership from three other contenders. As the first senator ever to be elected Prime Minister, constitutional law obliged him to win a seat in the House of Representatives. He easily won the seat left vacant by Holt's death. Press and public gave him an enthusiastic reception as Prime Minister and everything seemed to be going right for him.

But as he began to exert power, things seemed to go wrong. His colleagues realised he was a far more complex character than his public image had indicated. He showed himself to be a 'loner' rather than a committee man. Malcolm Fraser, his Minister for Defence, said in a resignation speech in 1971 "... he has a dangerous reluctance to consult Cabinet and an obstinate determination to get his own way. He ridicules the advice of a great Public Service unless it supports his view." Sometimes intolerant, belligerent and prejudiced, he affronted state premiers and many members of his own party. Although he made some social improvements, such as increases in pensions and health benefits, he seemed to tend increasingly toward an almost dictatorial posture.

The media relished conflicts between Gorton and his party and quickly picked up scandalous rumours circulated by his enemies. The most persistent of these was that his attractive young female secretary, Ainslie Gotto, exerted undue influence over him.

The climax came in a Party Room vote on 10 March 1971. Despite everything, Gorton still retained enough popularity for the votes for and against him to be equally divided. But he used his own casting vote as chairman to vote himself out of office.

His successor, William MacMahon, appointed him Minister for Defence, but he continued to defy the proprieties by publishing a series of newspaper articles entitled I Did It My Way. These hard-hitting revelations offended Cabinet so much that McMahon dismissed him from his ministry.

Gorton continued to criticise the party from within, but did not stand in the 1972 elections. His political career ended when he stood as an unsuccessful independent Senate candidate in 1975. Sir John Grey Gorton died on Sunday the 19 May 2002 in Sydney at the grand old age of 90. He was an Australian very much ahead of his time.

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