Ian Wilson (politician)

Ian Bonython Cameron Wilson (born 2 May 1932), Australian politician, was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Sir Keith Wilson, a prominent United Australia Party and Liberal Party politician. His mother, Elizabeth, was a granddaughter of Sir John Langdon Bonython, owner of "The Advertiser" and a member of the first federal House of Representatives.

Wilson was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide and Adelaide University, where he graduated in law, and at Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar 1955), where he did a higher law degree. He was a solicitor and company director before entering politics.

In 1966, Wilson was elected to the House of Representatives for the Adelaide seat of Sturt, which his father had held with one break since 1949. It was considered a fairly safe Liberal seat, but at the 1969 election there was a strong swing to Labor in South Australia, and was unexpectedly defeated by Norman Foster, a waterside worker. In 1972, after spending a great deal of family money, Wilson regained the seat, and thereafter held it without difficulty.

Wilson was typical of upper-class South Australian Liberals in being relatively moderate on most issues. He was a serious Anglican and active in many charitable and social welfare groups. This did not make him popular with the more conservative wing of the party. When the Liberals came to power under Malcolm Fraser in 1975, he was passed over for the ministry, in favour of the more conservative John McLeay.

In 1981 McLeay was dropped from the ministry and Wilson was appointed Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment. In 1982 he was shifted to Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, a notoriously unpopular portfolio in Liberal governments. He held this position until the defeat of the Liberal government in 1983. He was not included in the Opposition Shadow Ministry after the elections, and remained as a backbencher. He retired at the 1993 election, after losing Liberal pre-selection to Christopher Pyne. [cite news
title=Costello backer gets his reward
publisher=The Age
date=March 19 2007
url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/costellobacker-pyne-gets-his-reward/2007/03/18/1174152881566.html
accessdate=2007-12-12]

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