Max Ruddock

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. Representing the Liberal Party 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.

Early career Ruddock was born in 1914 in Marrickville, New South Wales, 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. Ruddock was then appointed as a board director at David Jones from 1948 to 1949, a director of Jones Brothers (1949–1952) and became a public accountant from 1956. 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 and got involved on a local level.

Later career and legacy Ruddock remained on the backbenches, and stayed as a Hornsby Councillor until 1965. On 3 January 1975, with the ascendancy of Tom Lewis 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 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. 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. When Philip was elected as mayor of Hornsby in September 2017, he reflected on his father's time in office, particularly in Hornsby Shire: "His record and passion for Hornsby is a demonstration of his enormous affection for this area — not to mention the fact that he was a great role model to me".