Eric Willis

Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE CMG (January 15 1922 - May 10 1999) was Premier of New South Wales, Australia from January 23, 1976 to May 14, 1976.

He was born in Murwillumbah, son of Archibald Clarence Willis, butter factory hand, and his wife Vida Mabel Buttenshaw. He was educated at Tyalgum Public School, Murwillumbah High School, and received a BA (Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1942. He served in the Second Australian Imperial Force from 1941 to 1946 in Army Intelligence in New Guinea and Philippines. He married Norma Thompson in 1951 [cite web
title =Eric Archibald Willis
work =
publisher =New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
url =http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/IndexSearch?form=IndexingSearch&SessionID=&event=marriages&sname=Willis&gname=Eric+Archibald+&fname=&mname=&frange=1788&trange=1955&place=&x=58&y=13
accessdate = 2007-08-14 ] and they had one daughter and two sons.

Political career

Willis represented Earlwood in the inner southwestern suburbs of Sydney from 1950 to 1978. He was Chief Secretary and Minister for Tourism from the election of the Askin government in May 1965 to June 1972 and Minister for Labour and Industry from 1965 to March 1971. From June 1972 to January 1976 he was Minister for Education. On Askin's retirement in January 1975, Tom Lewis became Premier. In January 1976, Willis won a vote of the parliamentary Liberal Party and he became Premier for four months.

In May 1976, Willis' Government lost power to Labor Opposition Leader Neville Wran, though he retained the Liberal leadership until 1977.

He divorced his first wife and married Lynn. He died in Sydney.cite web
title =Sir Eric Archibald Willis (1922 - 1999)
work =Members of Parliament
publisher =Parliament of New South Wales
url =http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/1fb6ebed995667c2ca256ea100825164/4b7cb5e668c84684ca256cb7007e8a40!OpenDocument
accessdate = 2007-02-19 ] [cite web
title =Death of the Honourable Sir Eric Archibald Willis
work =Hansard
publisher =Parliament of New South Wales
date = 12 May 1999
url =http://www.anzacatt.org.au/prod/PARLMENT/hansArt.nsf/V3Key/LC19990512008
accessdate = 2007-08-14 ]

Honours

He was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1974 and Knight of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1975.

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Willis, Eric Archibald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=New South Wales politician and Premier
DATE OF BIRTH= January 15 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH=Murwillumbah, New South Wales
DATE OF DEATH= May 10 1999
PLACE OF DEATH=Sydney