Max Ruddock
Encyclopedia
Maxwell Stanley Ruddock (2 January 191431 May 1976) was a New South Wales
politician, Assistant Treasurer
and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Tom Lewis
and Sir Eric Willis
. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for 14 years from 3 March 1962 until his resignation on 25 May 1976 for the Liberal Party of Australia
.
, the son of Stanley Ruddock, a forestry officer, and May Myers Ruddock (née Cropper). He was educated at Fort Street Boys' High School
and later attended the University of Sydney
. At university he gained a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) in 1935 and a Masters
(MEc) three years later in 1938.
Originally working as a teacher, he continued his academic studies, becoming an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants
in 1940. He married Emmie Chappell on 24 August 1940 and had two daughters and a son, Philip Maxwell
. He was then employed as an economic adviser to the Commonwealth government in 1942 and the Deputy Prices Commissioner from 1942 to 1948, but was forced to return to Sydney, owing to his mother-in-law suffering from cancer. Ruddock was then appointed as a Board Director at David Jones Limited
from 1948 to 1949, a director of Jones Brothers (1949-1952) and became a public accountant from 1956.
of Hornsby Shire Council
in 1954. He was elected from a single term as Deputy Shire President from December 1955 to December 1956. As a Councillor in 1959, his 16-year-old son, Philip, alerted Ruddock to a legal impediment to the State Government's desire to make the suburb of Westleigh
an industrial area, thereby resulting in the preservation of the residential nature of Westleigh. Ruddock later rose to be Shire President from December 1960 to December 1961. As a prominent member of the council, he became involved in many local and regional organisations, including as the General Secretary of New South Wales Wheat and Wool Growers Association (1959-1962), a trustee of Lane Cove National Park
(1961-1966) and also for Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
in 1964. He became a member of the new Liberal Party of Australia
and got involved on a local level.
Ruddock contested and won preselection for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
seat of The Hills
, a new seat with a notional Liberal majority, taking in the northern and Liberal voting end of the seat of Blacktown. Ruddock defeated the sitting Liberal Member for Blacktown, Alfred Dennis
, for preselection and Dennis subsequently contested the seat as an Independent Liberal. At the 1962 election
Ruddock defeated Dennis with 56.28% of the vote and went on to hold this seat a further five times.
as Premier of NSW he was appointed as Assistant Treasurer of New South Wales
and Minister for Revenue, an office which he held until 10 October 1975 when he was made Minister for Transport and Minister for Highways. He held these ministries until Lewis was replaced as Premier by Sir Eric Willis
, who then reappointed him as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue on 23 January 1976. He held this office until the Coalition Government lost the 1976 election on 14 May 1976.
He lived to see his son, Philip
, elected to the Australian House of Representatives
seat of Parramatta
on 22 September 1973. His health in decline, having suffered all his life from a degenerative muscle disease that, by the time he entered Parliament, made walking difficult, Ruddock did not stay in politics long afterwards, resigning his seat on 25 May 1976 and retiring from public life. However, six days after retiring from politics, aged 62, on 31 May 1976 he suffered a stroke and died in hospital. A state funeral at St James' Chapel, Castle Hill
, was held for him, which was attended by the Governor, Sir Roden Cutler. In his honour, Parramatta City Council dedicated the "Max Ruddock Reserve" in Winston Hills
soon after his death. Philip went on to serve in the Howard Government
as a Minister of the Crown, in particular as the Attorney-General of Australia
from 2003 to 2007.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
politician, Assistant Treasurer
Treasurer of New South Wales
The Treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856–1959 as the Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in...
and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Tom Lewis
Tom Lewis (Australian politician)
Thomas Lancelot Lewis AO is a former New South Wales politician, Premier of New South Wales and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Sir Robert Askin and Sir Eric Willis. He was made the Premier of New South Wales following Askin's retirement from politics and held it until he was replaced by...
and Sir Eric Willis
Eric Willis
Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, CMG was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a...
. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
for 14 years from 3 March 1962 until his resignation on 25 May 1976 for the Liberal Party of Australia
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...
.
Early career
Ruddock was born in 1914 in Marrickville, New South WalesMarrickville, New South Wales
Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney's Inner West is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia and is the largest suburb in the Marrickville Council local government area...
, the son of Stanley Ruddock, a forestry officer, and May Myers Ruddock (née Cropper). He was educated at Fort Street Boys' High School
Fort Street High School
Fort Street High School is a co-educational, academically selective, public high school currently located at Petersham, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
and later attended the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. At university he gained a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) in 1935 and a Masters
Master of Economics
A Master's Degree in Economics is a postgraduate academic program, offering training in economic theory, econometrics and / or applied economics. The degree may be offered as a terminal degree or as additional preparation for doctoral study, and is sometimes offered as a professional degree...
(MEc) three years later in 1938.
Originally working as a teacher, he continued his academic studies, becoming an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants
CPA Australia
CPA Australia is one of three professional accounting bodies in Australia, the others being the Institute of Public Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia....
in 1940. He married Emmie Chappell on 24 August 1940 and had two daughters and a son, Philip Maxwell
Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...
. He was then employed as an economic adviser to the Commonwealth government in 1942 and the Deputy Prices Commissioner from 1942 to 1948, but was forced to return to Sydney, owing to his mother-in-law suffering from cancer. Ruddock was then appointed as a Board Director at David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...
from 1948 to 1949, a director of Jones Brothers (1949-1952) and became a public accountant from 1956.
Early political career
Ruddock first entered politics when he stood for and was elected as a CouncillorCouncillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
of Hornsby Shire Council
Hornsby Shire
Hornsby Shire is a Local Government Area in the Northern region of Sydney, Australia. The Shire stretches from the suburb of Eastwood in the south to the Hawkesbury River town of Wisemans Ferry, some to the north...
in 1954. He was elected from a single term as Deputy Shire President from December 1955 to December 1956. As a Councillor in 1959, his 16-year-old son, Philip, alerted Ruddock to a legal impediment to the State Government's desire to make the suburb of Westleigh
Westleigh, New South Wales
Westleigh is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Westleigh is located 27 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Hornsby Shire.-History:...
an industrial area, thereby resulting in the preservation of the residential nature of Westleigh. Ruddock later rose to be Shire President from December 1960 to December 1961. As a prominent member of the council, he became involved in many local and regional organisations, including as the General Secretary of New South Wales Wheat and Wool Growers Association (1959-1962), a trustee of Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park is a small national park located within metropolitan Sydney. The park islocated about ten kilometres north-west of the Sydney CBD...
(1961-1966) and also for Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 25 km north of Sydney located largely within the Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, Warringah and Pittwater municipal areas. Ku-ring-gai Chase is also officially classed as a suburb by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales...
in 1964. He became a member of the new Liberal Party of Australia
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...
and got involved on a local level.
Ruddock contested and won preselection for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
seat of The Hills
Electoral district of The Hills
The Hills was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1962 to 2007. It was a 51.08 km² urban electorate in Sydney's north-west, taking in the suburbs of Carlingford, Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, Glenhaven, Kellyville, Pennant Hills and West...
, a new seat with a notional Liberal majority, taking in the northern and Liberal voting end of the seat of Blacktown. Ruddock defeated the sitting Liberal Member for Blacktown, Alfred Dennis
Alfred Dennis
Alfred Hugh Dennis is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1959 to 1962, representing the electorate of Blacktown. He was elected in 1959 as a Liberal for the typically safe Labor seat, but resigned to sit as an independent in 1962.Dennis was...
, for preselection and Dennis subsequently contested the seat as an Independent Liberal. At the 1962 election
New South Wales state election, 1962
The 1962 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1962. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1961 redistribution...
Ruddock defeated Dennis with 56.28% of the vote and went on to hold this seat a further five times.
Later career and legacy
Ruddock remained on the backbenches, and stayed as a Hornsby Councillor until 1965. On the 3 January 1975, with the ascendancy of Tom LewisTom Lewis (Australian politician)
Thomas Lancelot Lewis AO is a former New South Wales politician, Premier of New South Wales and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Sir Robert Askin and Sir Eric Willis. He was made the Premier of New South Wales following Askin's retirement from politics and held it until he was replaced by...
as Premier of NSW he was appointed as Assistant Treasurer of New South Wales
Treasurer of New South Wales
The Treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856–1959 as the Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in...
and Minister for Revenue, an office which he held until 10 October 1975 when he was made Minister for Transport and Minister for Highways. He held these ministries until Lewis was replaced as Premier by Sir Eric Willis
Eric Willis
Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, CMG was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a...
, who then reappointed him as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue on 23 January 1976. He held this office until the Coalition Government lost the 1976 election on 14 May 1976.
He lived to see his son, Philip
Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...
, elected to the Australian 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 Parramatta
Division of Parramatta
The Division of Parramatta is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the locality of Parramatta. The name Parramatta has been sourced to an Aboriginal...
on 22 September 1973. His health in decline, having suffered all his life from a degenerative muscle disease that, by the time he entered Parliament, made walking difficult, Ruddock did not stay in politics long afterwards, resigning his seat on 25 May 1976 and retiring from public life. However, six days after retiring from politics, aged 62, on 31 May 1976 he suffered a stroke and died in hospital. A state funeral at St James' Chapel, Castle Hill
Castle Hill, New South Wales
Castle Hill is a suburb in the north-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Castle Hill is located 31 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Hills District of the Greater Western Sydney region...
, was held for him, which was attended by the Governor, Sir Roden Cutler. In his honour, Parramatta City Council dedicated the "Max Ruddock Reserve" in Winston Hills
Winston Hills, New South Wales
Winston Hills is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Winston Hills is located 28 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta and the Greater Western Sydney region....
soon after his death. Philip went on to serve in the Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
as a Minister of the Crown, in particular as the Attorney-General of Australia
Attorney-General of Australia
The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the...
from 2003 to 2007.