Bill Morrison

William Lawrence Morrison (3 November 1928 – 15 February 2013) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held ministerial office in the Whitlam government as Minister for External Territories (1972–1973), Science (1972–1975), and Defence. He had been a member of the diplomatic service before entering politics, and later served a term as Ambassador to Indonesia (1985–1989).

Early life Morrison was born in Lithgow, New South Wales and graduated with an honours degree in economics from the University of Sydney in 1949. He was a diplomat in the Department of External Affairs from 1950 to 1969, with postings to London, Moscow, Washington, D.C., Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. His posting to Moscow was terminated by the expulsion of the entire mission in 1954 as a result of the Petrov Affair. His posting to Malaysia was as Deputy High Commissioner. In 1958, he married Marty Hessell, an American citizen, in Bangkok.

Political career In 1969 Morrison resigned from the diplomatic service to successfully contest the seat of St George in the 1969 election for the Australian Labor Party. In 1969 he was elected deputy chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Sub-committee on Australia's Relations with Indonesia of that committee. He also became a member of the Select Committee on Aircraft Noise, a matter of relevance to his electorate, which was close to Sydney Airport. Following the election of the Whitlam government in 1972 Morrison was appointed Minister for External Territories and Minister for Science in the Second Whitlam Ministry. With the granting of self-government to Australia's main external territory, Papua New Guinea, on 1 December 1973, the position of Minister for External Territories was abolished and he became Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs in matters relating to Papua New Guinea. From 6 June 1975, he was Minister for Defence and Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs in matters relating to the Islands of the Pacific. He was Minister for Defence during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. He lost his seat in the 1975 election. He retired in 1989. In May 2007, he was a witness to an inquest into the death of one of the Balibo Five, Brian Peters.