Richard Casey, Baron Casey
Encyclopedia
Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey KG
GCMG
CH
DSO
MC
KStJ PC (29 August 189017 June 1976) was an Australian politician, diplomat and the 16th Governor-General of Australia
.
, Queensland. His father, also named Richard Gardiner Casey, was a wealthy pastoralist and Queensland state politician of Irish descent. His mother, Evelyn, was the daughter of George Harris, another wealthy pastoralist and Queensland state politician. His father moved the family to Melbourne in 1893 and became a rich company director. Casey was educated at Cumloden School, St Kilda
, and at Melbourne Grammar School
. He enrolled for first year engineering at the University of Melbourne
in 1909, but then travelled to Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1913, graduating with second-class honours in the mechanical sciences tripos
and a Master of Arts in 1918.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Casey joined the First Australian Imperial Force
as a lieutenant, and served at Gallipoli as aide-de-camp
to Major General Sir William Bridges
. Casey was standing next to Bridges when Bridges was shot by a sniper (he died three days later). Later he served in France
, where he observed operations and sifted information, earning the Military Cross
and promotion to brigade major of the 8th Brigade. This position involved dangerous visits to the front line and he received a Distinguished Service Order
in 1918. He resigned his commission in June 1919 and transferred to the Reserve of Officers, serving as a part-time intelligence officer in Melbourne.
Casey's father died in 1919 and he returned after the war to Melbourne to take over his father's business interests including engineering and mining firms. He did this until 1924, when Prime Minister Stanley Bruce
appointed him his political liaison officer in London, a position he held until 1931, sending home confidential reports on political and economic matters, both for Bruce and for his Labor
successor, James Scullin
. In 1926 he married Ethel Marian Sumner (Maie) Ryan, with whom he had two children.
to the House of Representatives
as the United Australia Party
(UAP) Member for the Geelong-based seat of Corio
. Prime Minister Joseph Lyons
appointed him an assistant minister in 1933, and in 1935 he became Treasurer
.
In 1939 Robert Menzies
became Prime Minister for the first time. He saw Casey as a rival, and moved him to the lesser portfolio of Supply and Development
. In 1940 Casey resigned from parliament when Menzies appointed him as the first Australian Ambassador to the United States. This was a vital posting in wartime, but it also served to remove Casey from domestic politics. Casey was in Washington, D.C. when the US entered the war, and played an important role in establishing the alliance between the US and Australia.
_and_sir_edward_spears_in_the_lebanon,_1942.jpg)
Casey moved to Cairo
in 1942 when Winston Churchill
appointed him Minister Resident in the Middle East, to the annoyance of Prime Minister John Curtin
and some in the British Foreign Office
. In this role he played a key role in negotiating between the British and Allied governments, local leaders and the Allied commanders in the field. In 1944, when the Middle East ceased to be a military theatre, the British government appointed Casey Governor of Bengal, a province of India
. Casey held this post until 1946.
In 1946 Casey returned to Australia in the hope of being elected to parliament in the 1946 election
and becoming the leader of the new Liberal Party
that Menzies had formed in 1944, as part of his reorganisation of conservative politics in Australia. Casey had turned down the offer of a British peerage
to preserve his political chances. However, he was too late to organise his pre-selection for a seat. He was persuaded to become Federal President of the Liberal Party in September 1947 and proved to be a very effective fundraiser, partly as a result of his past social and business connections. Although Menzies still saw Casey as a rival, and although Casey undoubtedly saw himself as a future Prime Minister, they formed an effective partnership.
The Liberals won the 1949 election
, and Casey returned to the House of Representatives as Member for the outer Melbourne seat of La Trobe
. Menzies appointed him Minister for Supply and Development
and Minister for Works and Housing
. In March 1950 he became Minister for National Development
, gaining functions from Eric Harrison
's abolished porfolio of Postwar Reconstruction and losing supply to Howard Beale
. In 1951, when the Minister for External Affairs
, Percy Spender
(another Menzies rival), was dispatched to the Washington embassy, Casey succeeded him. Casey held the External Affairs post during the height of the Cold War
, the Suez Crisis
, the war in Indo-China
and other major world events. He formed close relations with Anthony Eden
, John Foster Dulles
and other leaders. Casey was also Minister in charge of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO
) from March 1950, and he was committed to its success.
In January 1960 Casey was made a life peer
of the United Kingdom House of Lords
, on the recommendation of the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan
; next month he resigned from the ministry and parliament. For most Australians, Britain was still the mother country, but it was by then becoming something of an anomaly that an Australian should be appointed to another country's parliament. Lord Casey made annual trips to London and put in appearances in the House of Lords, but he had no obvious constituency. He was also appointed to the executive of the CSIRO in 1960.
to succeed Lord De L'Isle
. This was the first time a conservative Prime Minister had recommended an Australian for the post, but it also marked the end of the appointment of non-Australians to the office of Governor-General. He was initially reluctant to accept the post, but when he did accept, he asked for a two-year appointment instead of the usual five years, subject to extension should he wish to continue. In the event, he served for three and a half years.
One of the arguments against appointing an Australian, particularly a former politician, had always been that they would be too closely involved with Australian personalities and issues to perform their constitutional role impartially. This became an acute issue for Casey in December 1967, when Prime Minister Harold Holt
died.
Casey could have commissioned the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, William McMahon
, as acting Prime Minister or Caretaker prime minister
, but instead he appointed John McEwen
, the leader of Liberals' coalition partner, the Country Party
. In this he was following a precedent set in 1939, when Sir Earle Page
was appointed Prime Minister following the death of Joseph Lyons
. But it was later alleged that Casey appointed McEwen in order to prevent McMahon having an advantage in the Liberal Party's ballot for a new leader, since he shared the view of some Liberals that McMahon would not be a suitable successor. This matter was aired in a 1969 book, The Power Struggle, by veteran political journalist Alan Reid
. Casey's biographer, W.J. Hudson says (in his 1986 book Casey) that Casey was concerned to preserve the Liberal-Country Party coalition, and that he knew (because McEwen had told him) that the Country Party would not serve under McMahon. (McEwen publicly confirmed his party's position on McMahon the day after his swearing-in.) If this was his motive for commissioning McEwen rather than McMahon, it suggests that he did take political considerations into account in making his decision. On the other hand, if the coalition were to disband, there would have been no party that could command a majority in the parliament and it could well have become unworkable.
Casey's Official Secretary
throughout his term was Murray Tyrrell
, who was knighted in 1968.
Casey left office in 1969 and he and his wife retired to their farm at Berwick
in Victoria. Casey never fully recovered from a car accident in 1974, and died in June 1976, survived by his wife, daughter and son.
, was appointed a Companion of the DSO
and was twice Mentioned in Despatches during World War I. He was appointed a Companion of Honour
in 1944. In 1960, he was created "Baron Casey, of Berwick in the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, and of the City of Westminster", becoming the second (and last) Australian politician (after Stanley Bruce
) to be elevated to the House of Lords
(Sir John Forrest
is sometimes mentioned in such lists, however his peerage was never formally established). He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
(GCMG) in 1965, and a Knight of the Order of the Garter
(KG) in 1969. In 1969 also, he was named Australian of the Year
.
The municipality which includes Berwick is now called the City of Casey
. There is also federal Electoral Division of Casey
(in a different part of Melbourne). The Canberra
suburb of Casey
and Casey Station
, a base in the Australian Antarctic Territory
, were named in Casey's honour. The R. G. Casey Building in Canberra is the headquarters of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
.
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
GCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
CH
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
KStJ PC (29 August 189017 June 1976) was an Australian politician, diplomat and the 16th Governor-General of Australia
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
.
Early life
Casey was born in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland. His father, also named Richard Gardiner Casey, was a wealthy pastoralist and Queensland state politician of Irish descent. His mother, Evelyn, was the daughter of George Harris, another wealthy pastoralist and Queensland state politician. His father moved the family to Melbourne in 1893 and became a rich company director. Casey was educated at Cumloden School, St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, and at Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
. He enrolled for first year engineering at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
in 1909, but then travelled to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1913, graduating with second-class honours in the mechanical sciences tripos
Tripos
The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos , plural Triposes. The word has an obscure etymology, but may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations...
and a Master of Arts in 1918.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Casey joined the First Australian Imperial Force
First Australian Imperial Force
The First Australian Imperial Force was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during World War I. It was formed from 15 August 1914, following Britain's declaration of war on Germany. Generally known at the time as the AIF, it is today referred to as the 1st AIF to distinguish from...
as a lieutenant, and served at Gallipoli as aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Major General Sir William Bridges
William Throsby Bridges
Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges KCB, CMG served with Australian forces during World War I, and was the first Australian to reach general officer rank...
. Casey was standing next to Bridges when Bridges was shot by a sniper (he died three days later). Later he served in France
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, where he observed operations and sifted information, earning the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
and promotion to brigade major of the 8th Brigade. This position involved dangerous visits to the front line and he received a Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
in 1918. He resigned his commission in June 1919 and transferred to the Reserve of Officers, serving as a part-time intelligence officer in Melbourne.
Casey's father died in 1919 and he returned after the war to Melbourne to take over his father's business interests including engineering and mining firms. He did this until 1924, when Prime Minister Stanley Bruce
Stanley Bruce
Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...
appointed him his political liaison officer in London, a position he held until 1931, sending home confidential reports on political and economic matters, both for Bruce and for his Labor
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...
successor, James Scullin
James Scullin
James Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was...
. In 1926 he married Ethel Marian Sumner (Maie) Ryan, with whom he had two children.
Political career
In 1931 Casey returned to Australia and was electedAustralian federal election, 1931
Federal elections were held in Australia on 19 December 1931. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...
to 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....
as the United Australia Party
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
(UAP) Member for the Geelong-based seat of Corio
Division of Corio
The Division of Corio is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for Corio Bay. It has always been based on the city of Geelong, although in the past it has also included parts of the western...
. Prime Minister Joseph Lyons
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
appointed him an assistant minister in 1933, and in 1935 he became Treasurer
Treasurer of Australia
The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. He is the head of the Department of the Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government...
.
In 1939 Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
became Prime Minister for the first time. He saw Casey as a rival, and moved him to the lesser portfolio of Supply and Development
Minister for Defence (Australia)
The Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...
. In 1940 Casey resigned from parliament when Menzies appointed him as the first Australian Ambassador to the United States. This was a vital posting in wartime, but it also served to remove Casey from domestic politics. Casey was in Washington, D.C. when the US entered the war, and played an important role in establishing the alliance between the US and Australia.
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in 1942 when Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
appointed him Minister Resident in the Middle East, to the annoyance of Prime Minister John Curtin
John Curtin
John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...
and some in the British Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
. In this role he played a key role in negotiating between the British and Allied governments, local leaders and the Allied commanders in the field. In 1944, when the Middle East ceased to be a military theatre, the British government appointed Casey Governor of Bengal, a province of India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. Casey held this post until 1946.
In 1946 Casey returned to Australia in the hope of being elected to parliament in the 1946 election
Australian federal election, 1946
Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 September 1946. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...
and becoming the leader of the new Liberal Party
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...
that Menzies had formed in 1944, as part of his reorganisation of conservative politics in Australia. Casey had turned down the offer of a British peerage
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
to preserve his political chances. However, he was too late to organise his pre-selection for a seat. He was persuaded to become Federal President of the Liberal Party in September 1947 and proved to be a very effective fundraiser, partly as a result of his past social and business connections. Although Menzies still saw Casey as a rival, and although Casey undoubtedly saw himself as a future Prime Minister, they formed an effective partnership.
The Liberals won the 1949 election
Australian federal election, 1949
Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced...
, and Casey returned to the House of Representatives as Member for the outer Melbourne seat of La Trobe
Division of La Trobe
The Division of La Trobe is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the outer eastern/south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was originally located closer to the city, but redistributions moved it further south-east. It originally included the suburbs of Croydon,...
. Menzies appointed him Minister for Supply and Development
Minister for Defence (Australia)
The Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...
and Minister for Works and Housing
Minister for Housing (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness is Mark Arbib, who was appointed on 14 September 2010, following the Labor Party's win at the 2010 election...
. In March 1950 he became Minister for National Development
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:...
, gaining functions from Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Sir Eric John Harrison KCMG KCVO was an Australian politician who became the first Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia....
's abolished porfolio of Postwar Reconstruction and losing supply to Howard Beale
Howard Beale (Australian politician)
Sir Oliver "Howard" Beale KBE was an Australian politician and Ambassador to the United States. He was the father of Liberal Party of Australia politician Julian Beale...
. In 1951, when the Minister for External Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)
In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In common with international practice, the office is often informally referred to as Foreign Minister...
, Percy Spender
Percy Spender
Sir Percy Claude Spender, KCVO, KBE, QC, , was an Australian politician. diplomat and jurist.Spender was born in Sydney and educated at the prestigious Fort Street High School and later the University of Sydney. He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1915...
(another Menzies rival), was dispatched to the Washington embassy, Casey succeeded him. Casey held the External Affairs post during the height of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
, the war in Indo-China
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and other major world events. He formed close relations with Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
, John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
and other leaders. Casey was also Minister in charge of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Australia)
The current Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research is Kim Carr, appointed on 3 December 2007. He administers his portfolio through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.-List of Ministers for Industry :...
(CSIRO
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the national government body for scientific research in Australia...
) from March 1950, and he was committed to its success.
In January 1960 Casey was made a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
of the United Kingdom House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, on the recommendation of the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
; next month he resigned from the ministry and parliament. For most Australians, Britain was still the mother country, but it was by then becoming something of an anomaly that an Australian should be appointed to another country's parliament. Lord Casey made annual trips to London and put in appearances in the House of Lords, but he had no obvious constituency. He was also appointed to the executive of the CSIRO in 1960.
Governor-General
In 1965 the Queen, on Menzies' recommendation, appointed Casey Governor-GeneralGovernor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
to succeed Lord De L'Isle
William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle
William Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle and 6th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley VC KG GCMG GCVO KStJ PC , was the 15th Governor-General of Australia and the final non-Australian to hold the office...
. This was the first time a conservative Prime Minister had recommended an Australian for the post, but it also marked the end of the appointment of non-Australians to the office of Governor-General. He was initially reluctant to accept the post, but when he did accept, he asked for a two-year appointment instead of the usual five years, subject to extension should he wish to continue. In the event, he served for three and a half years.
One of the arguments against appointing an Australian, particularly a former politician, had always been that they would be too closely involved with Australian personalities and issues to perform their constitutional role impartially. This became an acute issue for Casey in December 1967, when Prime Minister Harold Holt
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
died.
Casey could have commissioned the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, William McMahon
William McMahon
Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
, as acting Prime Minister or Caretaker prime minister
Caretaker government of Australia
In Australia the term caretaker government is used to describe the government during a period that starts when the parliament is dissolved by the Governor-General prior to a general election, and continues for a short period after the election, until the next ministry is appointed...
, but instead he appointed John McEwen
John McEwen
Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia...
, the leader of Liberals' coalition partner, the Country Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
. In this he was following a precedent set in 1939, when Sir Earle Page
Earle Page
Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, GCMG, CH was the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, and is to date the second-longest serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history, with 41 years, 361 days in Parliament.-Early life:...
was appointed Prime Minister following the death of Joseph Lyons
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
. But it was later alleged that Casey appointed McEwen in order to prevent McMahon having an advantage in the Liberal Party's ballot for a new leader, since he shared the view of some Liberals that McMahon would not be a suitable successor. This matter was aired in a 1969 book, The Power Struggle, by veteran political journalist Alan Reid
Alan Reid (journalist)
Alan Douglas Reid , nicknamed the Red Fox, was an Australian political journalist, who worked in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery from 1937 to 1985...
. Casey's biographer, W.J. Hudson says (in his 1986 book Casey) that Casey was concerned to preserve the Liberal-Country Party coalition, and that he knew (because McEwen had told him) that the Country Party would not serve under McMahon. (McEwen publicly confirmed his party's position on McMahon the day after his swearing-in.) If this was his motive for commissioning McEwen rather than McMahon, it suggests that he did take political considerations into account in making his decision. On the other hand, if the coalition were to disband, there would have been no party that could command a majority in the parliament and it could well have become unworkable.
Casey's Official Secretary
Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia
The Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia and his staff provide governors-general with the necessary support to enable them to carry out their constitutional, statutory, ceremonial and public duties. The position of Official Secretary was established in 1901, although only...
throughout his term was Murray Tyrrell
Murray Tyrrell
Sir Murray Louis Tyrrell KCVO CBE was the Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia for a record term of 26 years, 1947–73, in which time he served six governors-general....
, who was knighted in 1968.
Casey left office in 1969 and he and his wife retired to their farm at Berwick
Berwick, Victoria
Berwick is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Casey. At the 2006 Census, Berwick had a population of 36,420....
in Victoria. Casey never fully recovered from a car accident in 1974, and died in June 1976, survived by his wife, daughter and son.
Honours
Casey received a Military CrossMilitary Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, was appointed a Companion of the DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
and was twice Mentioned in Despatches during World War I. He was appointed a Companion of Honour
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
in 1944. In 1960, he was created "Baron Casey, of Berwick in the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, and of the City of Westminster", becoming the second (and last) Australian politician (after Stanley Bruce
Stanley Bruce
Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...
) to be elevated to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
(Sir John Forrest
John Forrest
Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
is sometimes mentioned in such lists, however his peerage was never formally established). He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(GCMG) in 1965, and a Knight of the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(KG) in 1969. In 1969 also, he was named Australian of the Year
Australian of the Year
Since 1960 the Australian of the Year Award has been part of the celebrations surrounding Australia Day , during which time the award has grown steadily in significance to become Australia’s pre-eminent award. The Australian of the Year announcement has become a very prominent part of the annual...
.
The municipality which includes Berwick is now called the City of Casey
City of Casey
The City of Casey is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Casey is Victoria's most populous municipality, with a 2006 census population of 214,960. The municipality's population growth rate during both 1996-2001 and 2001-2006 was...
. There is also federal Electoral Division of Casey
Division of Casey
The Division of Casey is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1969 and is named for Richard Casey, who was Governor-General of Australia 1965-69. It is located in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne and includes the suburbs of Croydon, Montrose and Olinda...
(in a different part of Melbourne). The Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
suburb of Casey
Casey, Australian Capital Territory
Casey is a suburb in Canberra, Australia , approximately 4 km from the Gungahlin Town Centre and about 13 km from the centre of Canberra. The suburb is named after Richard Casey, Baron Casey an Australian politician, diplomat and later the 16th Governor-General of Australia. It is bound...
and Casey Station
Casey Station
Casey Station is a permanent base in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division located on Vincennes Bay in the Australian Antarctic Territory.- History :...
, a base in the Australian Antarctic Territory
Australian Antarctic Territory
The Australian Antarctic Territory is a part of Antarctica. It was claimed by the United Kingdom and placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1933. It is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation...
, were named in Casey's honour. The R. G. Casey Building in Canberra is the headquarters of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally...
.
Styles
- Mr Richard Casey (1890–1917)
- Mr Richard Casey MCMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(1917–1918) - Mr Richard Casey DSO MC (1918–1931)
- Mr Richard Casey DSO MC MP (1931–1933)
- The Hon.The HonourableThe prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Richard Casey DSO MC MP (1933–1939) - The Rt. Hon.The Right HonourableThe Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
Richard Casey DSO MC MP (1939–1940) - The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey DSO MC (1940–1944)
- The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey CH DSO MC (1944–1949)
- The Rt. Hon. Richard Casey CH DSO MC MP (1949–1960)
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord Casey CH DSO MC KStJ PC (1960–1965)
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord Casey GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC (1965–1969)
- The Rt. Hon. The Lord Casey KG GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC (1969–1976)