Richard Casey, Baron Casey

Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey (29 August 1890 – 17 June 1976) was an Australian statesman who served as the 16th governor-general of Australia, in office from 1965 to 1969. He was also a distinguished army officer, long-serving cabinet minister, Ambassador to the United States, member of Churchill's War Cabinet, and Governor of Bengal.

Casey was born in Brisbane, but moved to Melbourne when he was young. He entered residence at Trinity College, Melbourne, in 1909 while studying engineering at the University of Melbourne before continuing his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1914, Casey enlisted as a lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force. He saw service in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front, reaching the rank of major and winning the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Cross before becoming a Chief Intelligence Officer in 1920. Casey joined the Australian public service in 1924 to work at Whitehall as a liaison officer with the British administration. He reported directly to the prime minister, Stanley Bruce, with whom he developed a close relationship.

In 1931, Casey was elected to federal parliament for the United Australia Party. He served as treasurer from 1935 to 1939 (under Joseph Lyons and Earle Page), and then as Minister for Supply and Development from 1939 to 1940 (under Robert Menzies). During the Second World War, Casey was Ambassador to the United States from 1940 to 1942, and then joined Winston Churchill's War Cabinet as its representative in the Middle East. In 1944, Churchill appointed him Governor of Bengal, where he handled the recovery from the 1943 famine and civil unrest in the lead-up to independence.

Casey returned to Australia in 1946. He was federal president of the fledgling Liberal Party from 1947 to 1950, and re-entered parliament at the 1949 election. Casey was reappointed to cabinet shortly after, again serving under Menzies. He held various national development portfolios from 1949 to 1951, and then served as Minister for External Affairs until his retirement from politics in 1960. In 1965, Menzies named Casey to replace Lord De L'Isle as governor-general. He served for just under four years; the only major constitutional issue during his tenure was the disappearance of Harold Holt in 1967.

The City of Casey within Greater Melbourne is named in recognition of Casey.

Early life and education Casey was born in Brisbane, Queensland, as Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey, but he dropped the "Gavin" in later life. His father, also named Richard Gardiner Casey, of Irish descent, was a wealthy pastoralist and Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. His mother, Evelyn, was the daughter of George Harris, another wealthy pastoralist and Member of the Queensland Legislative Council. 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 engineering at the University of Melbourne, where he was a resident student at Trinity College in 1909 and 1910, but then travelled to England, entering Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1913, graduating with second-class honours in the mechanical sciences tripos. By the custom of Cambridge, this was translated to a Master of Arts in 1918.

Military and early career At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Casey joined the Australian Imperial Force, receiving a commission as a lieutenant in the 3rd Infantry Brigade on 14 September. He was a member of the first convoy on board the Orvieto, and was the responsible officer looking after the German prisoners from the SMS Emden following the Battle of Cocos until the ship reached Colombo. He was appointed an aide-de-camp on 27 February 1915, and was appointed a staff captain on the brigade staff on 20 August, receiving the corresponding promotion to captain from the same date. He 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 (Bridges died three days later). Casey related a story in 1967 in a speech delivered at Gallipoli of a British officer being rescued by a Turkish soldier. A statue was created based on this story that now has pride of place in the Gallipoli battlefields. 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. In this effort he engaged the services of public relations counsellor Earl Newsom.

Second World War Baron Casey at Government House, Calcutta, during his tenure as the Governor of Bengal Province, British India Casey moved to Cairo in 1942 when Winston Churchill appointed him Minister-Resident for 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 as the Governor of Bengal, in India, a post which he held till 1946. having resigned from the ministry and parliament in February. 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.

According to William McMahon, Prime Minister Harold Holt (Menzies' successor) considered having Casey dismissed from the governor-generalship, and went as far as to have the necessary documents drawn up. This was because Casey had twice called McMahon into Yarralumla to give him a "dressing down" over his poor relationship with Deputy Prime Minister John McEwen, which he believed was affecting the government. Holt agreed with McMahon that this was an improper intervention in the political process, but no further action was taken.

In April 1967, during the Wave Hill walk-off, the Gurindji strikers drafted a petition to Casey, asking for a lease of around Daguragu, to be run cooperatively by the Gurundji as a mining and cattle lease. The petition said "We feel that morally the land is ours and should be returned to us". However, in June 1967 Casey refused the lease.

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 Holt disappeared, presumed drowned.

Casey could have commissioned McMahon, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, 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 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. He remained a keen pilot until his death and owned several aircraft over the years. a 1938 Percival Vega Gull which he named Corio Gull after his electorate. He flew Corio Gull between Melbourne and Canberra to attend Parliament until the aircraft was impressed by the Royal Australian Air Force at the outbreak of World War II. a 1947 Miles Messenger purchased in 1953 and retired 1962. It is preserved at the Australian National Aviation Museum. a 1956 Cessna 180 registered VH-RGC (after his initials) which was named Lady Casey in 1960. Maie continued to fly until her death in 1983, after which it was purchased by Nancy Bird Walton.

Casey received a Military Cross, was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and was twice Mentioned in Despatches during the First World War. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) 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).

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.