John Carrick (Australian politician)
Sir John Leslie Carrick, (4 September 1918 – 18 May 2018) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1971 to 1987, representing the Liberal Party. He was a minister for the duration of the Fraser government, holding several different portfolios. Early life Carrick was born in Sydney in 1918, as the fourth of six children born to Emily (née Terry) and Arthur James Carrick. His father worked as a clerk in the Government Printing Office, but lost his job during the Great Depression. Carrick grew up in Woollahra, Randwick, and Bondi, and attended the local state schools. He eventually won a scholarship to the selective Sydney Technical High School. He worked for the Australian Gas Light Company after leaving school, while attending night classes in chemistry at Sydney Technical College. He eventually was admitted to the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Economics in 1941. After previously serving in the Sydney University Regiment, Carrick joined the Australian Imperial Force in December 1940. He was posted to the 18th Anti-Tank Battery, which in December 1941 was deployed to West Timor as part of the Sparrow Force. After landing he was captured by the Japanese. Carrick was initially imprisoned on Java and later in Singapore's Changi prison camp. In 1943, he was sent to work on the Burma Railway, including at Hellfire Pass. He learned enough Malay and Japanese to act as an interpreter. After his liberation towards the end of the war, he was seconded to the Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Mountbatten. Political career In January 1946, Carrick began working as a research officer for the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party. He was appointed general secretary of the Division in 1948, and would hold the position until 1971. The Bulletin dubbed him the "grey eminence of Ash Street", referring to the location of the party's headquarters. Along with the state president, Bill Spooner, Carrick toured New South Wales founding new branches and looking for prospective candidates. He published a book about liberalism in 1949 titled The Liberal Way of Progress. The Liberals were in power federally for virtually the duration of Carrick's tenure as general secretary, but did not win a state election until 1965, when Robert Askin was elected as premier. After the retirement of Alister McMullin, Carrick won Liberal preselection for the 1970 half-Senate election, and was elected to a term beginning on 1 July 1971. He used his maiden speech to promote a series of proposed reforms to the relationship between the federal government and the states. His second speech was given in support of Senator Lionel Murphy's private member's bill for the abolition of capital punishment, which he described as "legal murder". The bill passed the Senate but was defeated in the House of Representatives; a similar bill eventually passed in 1973. Carrick was a strong defender of the powers of the Senate, which he viewed as "the only safeguard against unbridled power and arrogance".