Robert Cotton (Australian politician)

Sir Robert Carrington Cotton KCMG AO (29 November 1915 – 25 December 2006) was an Australian politician and Senator for New South Wales in the Parliament of Australia from 1966 to 1978. During that period he held the portfolios of Minister for Civil Aviation in the Gorton and McMahon governments, and Minister for Industry and Commerce in the Fraser government.

Cotton was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, in 1915. He was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide and trained as an Royal Australian Air Force pilot in 1942 and 1943, but did not participate in wartime action as he was seconded to the Department of Supply. Instead Cotton established the timber industry in Oberon, New South Wales as a wartime priority. [cite news
title =Robert Cotton, 1915-2006
publisher =The Sydney Morning Herald
date =January 4 2007
url =http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/a-renaissance-man-of-politics/2007/01/03/1167777151221.html
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ]

After the war Cotton became a businessman and pastoralist in Oberon. Cotton was a member of the Australian Liberal Party from its foundation in 1944. He ran unsuccessfully for the seat of Macquarie against the sitting Australian Labor Party member Ben Chifley in the 1951 federal election. In 1949 and 1950 he was President of Oberon Council. From 1957 to 1960 he was State President, Liberal Party, New South Wales. He was appointed to the Senate to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir William Spooner in August 1965. [cite web
title =The Australian Election Archive Index of Senate appointments 1901-2003
work=Psephos
publisher =Adam Carr
date =
url =http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/appointmentsindex.shtml
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ] He was Minister for Civil Aviation from 1969 to 1972 and Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1975 to 1977. [cite press release
title =Sir Robert Cotton
publisher =Prime Minister of Australia
date =29 December 2006
url =http://www.pm.gov.au/news/media_releases/media_Release2322.html
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ]

Cotton retired from Parliament in 1978 He was consul-general to New York from 1978 to 1981. He was a director of the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1981 and 1982 and was the Australian Ambassador to the United States from 1982 to 1985 and from 1991 to 1994 he was Chairman of the Australian National Gallery Foundation.cite web
title =Papers of Sir Robert Cotton
publisher =National Library of Australia
date =August 1996
url =http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms6730
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ] He died on Christmas Day 2006 in Sydney aged 91 after a long illness. He was survived by his second wife, two daughters and a son, three stepchildren, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren as well as a sister Wanda Joan Cotton 95 who lives in Pretoria South Africa. [cite news
title =PM pays tribute to Sir Robert Cotton
publisher =The Australian
date =December 29 2006
url =http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20989310-29277,00.html
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ]

Honours

Cotton was knighted (KCMG) in 1978 and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993. He received a Doctor of Science from the University of Sydney in 1995. [cite web
title =Sir Robert Cotton KCMG AO
publisher =University of Sydney
date =2 June 1995
url =http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/committees/advisoryRCCotton.shtml
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ]

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Cotton, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=29 November 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH=Broken Hill, Australia
DATE OF DEATH= 25 December 2006
PLACE OF DEATH=Australia