Eric Harrison, Australian soldier and politician, 27th Australian Minister for Defence (d. 1974)
Sir Eric John Harrison, (7 September 1892 – 26 September 1974) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the inaugural deputy leader of the Liberal Party (1945–1956), and a government minister under four prime ministers. He was later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1964.
Harrison was born in Sydney and left school at the age of 13. He served with the Australian Army during World War I, and after the war's end became the manager of a textile factory. Harrison was elected to the House of Representatives in 1931, representing the United Australia Party (UAP). He served briefly as Minister for Interior in 1934, under Joseph Lyons, and returned to the ministry in 1938. Over the next three years he held positions in the governments of Lyons, Earle Page, Robert Menzies, and Arthur Fadden.
In 1944, Harrison replaced Billy Hughes as deputy leader of the UAP. When the new Liberal Party was formed the following year, he was elected to the same position. In Menzies' second government, Harrison held various defence-related portfolios. He was also made the inaugural Leader of the House in 1951. Harrison left politics in 1956 to become High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He retired in 1964, and suffered from Parkinson's disease in later years. His daughter, Shirley Walters, followed him into politics, becoming the first woman to represent Tasmania in the Senate.
1892Sep, 7
Eric Harrison
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Events on 1892
- 28May
Sierra Club
In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club. - 6Jul
Homestead Strike
Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded. - 7Jul
Philippine Revolution
The Katipunan is established, the discovery of which by Spanish authorities initiated the Philippine Revolution. - 8Jul
Great Fire of 1892
St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892. - 9Aug
Telegraphy
Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.