Kenneth Shaw "Ken" Wriedt (11 July 192717 October 2010) was an Australian politician and minister in the Whitlam government

Second Whitlam Ministry

The Second Whitlam Ministry was the forty-ninth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 19 December 1972 to 12 June 1974.Australian Labor Party*Hon Gough Whitlam, QC MP: Prime Minister. Minister for Foreign Affairs...

.

Wriedt was born in Melbourne, of Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 ancestry. His early life included time spent as a seaman. He was elected as an Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 Senator

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 for Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 at the 1967 Senate election

Australian Senate election, 1967

Half-senate elections were held in Australia on 25 November 1967.Independent: Reg Turnbull -See also:*Candidates of the Australian Senate election, 1967*Members of the Australian Senate, 1968–1971-References:...

.

When the Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

 government won office at the December 1972 election

Australian federal election, 1972

Federal elections were held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The Liberal Party of Australia had been in power since 1949, under Prime Minister of Australia William McMahon since March 1971 with coalition partner the Country Party...

, Wriedt became Minister for Primary Industry

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Australia)

The current Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig.-Portfolio responsibilities:The minister administers his portfolio through the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and its component bodies:...

. In June 1974

Third Whitlam Ministry

The Third Whitlam Ministry was the fiftieth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 12 June 1974 to 11 November 1975. It was dismissed in the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.Australian Labor Party...

 his portfolio was renamed Agriculture. On 14 October 1975, Rex Connor

Rex Connor

Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor , Australian politician, was a minister in the Whitlam government and promoted government investment to support national development...

 was obliged to resign as Minister for Minerals and Energy

Minister for Resources and Energy (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Resources and Energy is Martin Ferguson, appointed on 3 December 2007. The Minister administers his portfolios through the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.-List of Ministers for Resources:...

, as a result of the Loans Affair

Loans Affair

The Loans Affair, also called the Khemlani Affair, is the name given to the political scandal involving the Whitlam Government of Australia in 1975, in which it was accused of attempting to borrow money illegally from Middle Eastern countries by bypassing standard procedure as dictated by the...

, and Wriedt was appointed in his place. Nevertheless, he served less than a month in this position, because the government was dismissed on 11 November. Wriedt remained in the Senate until his resignation in September 1980 to contest the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 seat of Denison

Division of Denison

The Division of Denison is anAustralian Electoral Division in Tasmania.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Sir William Denison, who was Lt-Governor of Van Diemens Land 1847-55...

 at the 1980 federal election

Australian federal election, 1980

Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Malcolm Fraser with coalition partner the National Country Party led by Doug...

; he was defeated by sitting Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 MP Michael Hodgman

Michael Hodgman

William Michael Hodgman, AM QC , is an Australian Liberal retired politician. He is a former member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, the Tasmanian House of Assembly and the Australian House of Representatives....

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At the 1982 Tasmanian state election

Tasmanian state election, 1982

Elections for the Tasmanian House of Assembly were held on the 15 May 1982. The incumbent Labor Party, in power since 1972 and led by Premier Harry Holgate, was defeated by the opposition Liberal Party, led by Robin Gray....

, Wriedt won a seat in the Tasmanian House of Assembly

Tasmanian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...

 representing Franklin

Division of Franklin (state)

The Electoral Division of Franklin is one of the five electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The division is named after Sir John Franklin, the arctic explorer who was Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1837-43...

. He was Leader of the Opposition

Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania)

The role of Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania is a title held by the leader of the largest minority party in the state lower house, the Tasmanian House of Assembly. He or she acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the government on the floor of parliament...

 from 1982 to 1986 and a minister from 1989 to 1990 in the minority government led by Michael Field

Michael Field (Australian politician)

Michael Walter Field, AC was Tasmanian Labor leader from 1988 until his retirement in 1996, and was the Premier of Tasmania between 1989 and 1992...

. In October 1990 he retired from parliament. He was the father of a subsequent Tasmanian House of Assembly member, Paula Wriedt

Paula Wriedt

Paula Catherine Wriedt is a former Australian politician. She was an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, representing the outer suburban Hobart seat of Franklin. She was first elected to parliament in the 1996 election...

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