Reg Withers

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Australian politician (1924–2014)

title: "Reg Withers" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1924-births", "2014-deaths", "people-from-bunbury,-western-australia", "university-of-western-australia-alumni", "members-of-the-australian-senate-for-western-australia", "members-of-the-australian-senate", "members-of-the-cabinet-of-australia", "1975-australian-constitutional-crisis", "city-of-bunbury-councillors", "mayors-and-lord-mayors-of-perth,-western-australia", "australian-members-of-the-privy-council-of-the-united-kingdom", "royal-australian-navy-sailors", "royal-australian-navy-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "australian-monarchists", "liberal-party-of-australia-members-of-the-parliament-of-australia", "20th-century-australian-politicians"] description: "Australian politician (1924–2014)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reg_Withers" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian politician (1924–2014) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
name	Reg Withers
image	Reg Withers 1974 (cropped).jpg
order2	Minister for Administrative Services
primeminister2	Malcolm Fraser
term_start2	22 December 1975
term_end2	7 August 1978
predecessor2	Gordon Bryant
successor2	Eric Robinson
order3	Special Minister of State
Minister for the Capital Territory
primeminister3	Malcolm Fraser
term_start3	11 November 1975
term_end3	22 December 1975
predecessor3	Gordon Bryant
successor3	Eric Robinson
order4	Leader of the Government in the Senate
term_start4	11 November 1975
term_end4	7 August 1978
predecessor4	Ken Wriedt
successor4	John Carrick
office5	Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
term_start5	20 December 1972
term_end5	11 November 1975
predecessor5	Lionel Murphy
successor5	Ken Wriedt
title6	Senator for Western Australia
term_start6	1 July 1968
term_end6	6 June 1987
successor6	John Panizza
term_start7	17 February 1966
term_end7	25 November 1966
predecessor7	Sir Shane Paltridge
successor7	Laurie Wilkinson
title8	Lord Mayor of Perth
term_start8	1991
term_end8	1994
predecessor8	Chas Hopkins
successor8	Peter Nattrass
birth_date
birth_place	Bunbury, Western Australia
death_date
death_place	Perth, Western Australia
birthname	Reginald Greive Withers
spouse
party	Liberal
alma_mater	University of Western Australia
profession	Solicitor, barrister
allegiance	Australia
branch	Royal Australian Navy
serviceyears	1942–1946
unit	HMAS Gawler
::

Withers was born in Bunbury, Western Australia, the son of state Labor MP Frederick Withers. He served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II and completed a law degree at the University of Western Australia upon his return. He subsequently moved back to Bunbury where he served on the Bunbury Municipal Council. Withers joined the Liberal Party at a young age and served as state president from 1961 to 1965. He was appointed to a Senate casual vacancy in 1966. He was defeated at the 1966 federal election, but was re-elected at the 1967 half-Senate election.

Withers was chosen as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate following the Coalition's defeat at the 1972 election. He played a key role in the 1975 constitutional crisis as the Senate sought to block supply to the Whitlam government, culminating in the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Withers subsequently became Leader of the Government in the Senate and was appointed Minister for Administrative Services and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Fraser government. He was sacked in controversial circumstances in 1978 but remained in parliament until 1987. He later served as Lord Mayor of Perth from 1991 to 1994.

Early life

Withers was born on 26 October 1924 in Bunbury, Western Australia. He was the sixth of seven children born to Isabelle Louisa (née Grieve) and Frederick James Withers. His father was a former locomotive driver who had been elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly earlier in 1924 and served for over 20 years as a Labor MP.

Withers was educated at Bunbury Senior High School. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in June 1942, aged 17, where he received training as a coder.

Withers settled in Perth after the war's end, completing his leaving certificate at Perth Technical College and going on to study law at the University of Western Australia on a scholarship for ex-servicemen. He graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1952 and undertook his articles of clerkship with Howard Solomon. After being admitted to the bar in 1953 he returned to Bunbury where he practised as a solicitor.

Political career

Returning to Bunbury to practise law, first as a solicitor and, from 1953, a barrister, Withers was elected to Bunbury Municipal Council and began to involve himself in Liberal Party affairs, serving at various times as Liberal Party state president and vice-president and federal vice-president.

Withers entered the Senate on 17 February 1966 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Sir Shane Paltridge, but lost his seat at the special Senate election later that year, before being re-elected in 1967, returning to the Senate in 1968.

Described as having a "jovial manner and perpetual grin", Withers quickly gained a reputation as the Liberal numbers man and served as Senate Government Whip from 1969–71. After the defeat of the McMahon government in 1972, Withers became Opposition Leader in the Senate, where he retained a thin majority and acted to block much of the Whitlam Government's legislation. Withers was widely known as "The Toecutter" for his alleged approach to enforcing party loyalty and his role in the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.

Fraser government

After the dismissal of the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975, Withers was appointed to Malcolm Fraser's first (caretaker) ministry, becoming Vice-President of the Executive Council as well as briefly holding the portfolios of Special Minister of State, Capital Territory, Media, and Tourism and Recreation during the period leading up to the December election. After the election, Withers became Minister for Administrative Services, and continued as Vice-President of the Executive Council until 7 August 1978. He was dismissed by Fraser in the wake of the findings of a royal commission into aspects of a redistribution of certain federal electorates in Queensland. The royal commission found that Withers had exercised his ministerial influence in an inappropriate way. At the time he commented about Fraser that "When the man who's carried the biggest knife in this country for the last ten years starts giving you a lecture about propriety, integrity and the need to resign, then he's either making a sick joke or playing you for a mug."

Later career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Reg_Withers_1991.png" caption="Withers in 1991 as Lord Mayor of Perth"] ::

Withers was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1977. He retired from federal politics at the 1987 double dissolution, and was subsequently elected Lord Mayor of Perth, in which role he served from 1991 until the council's dissolution in 1994. He was also a monarchist delegate to the 1998 Constitutional Convention.

Having served as president of the WA Liberal Party from 1961 to 1965, Withers made an unsuccessful attempt to return to this position in 1995 when he challenged incumbent and future state Liberal leader David Honey.

Personal life

In 1953, Withers married Shirley Jones, with whom he had three children.

Withers died in Perth, Western Australia, on 15 November 2014, aged 90.

References

Church, Nathan. (9 September 2016). "Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: the Second World War". Australian Parliamentary Library.
Faine, John. (1992). "Taken on oath: a generation of lawyers". Federation Press.
{{Cite Au Senate. David. Hough. (2017)
"Ministerial Resignations and Dismissals Since 1901". australianpolitics.com.
"PP no. 263 of 1978".
Tiffen, Rodney. (1999). "Scandals: media, politics & corruption in contemporary Australia". UNSW Press.
Flint, David. (27 May 2006). "Australia's first republican movement". norepublic.com.au.
"ParlInfo - Allan Rocher resigns from the Liberal Party".
(18 November 2014). "Former Perth lord mayor and Senator Reg Withers dies at 90". ABC News.

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