Roger Dean

Roger Levinge Dean, CBE (10 December 1913 – 7 January 1998) was an Australian politician and public servant. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1964, representing the New South Wales seat of Robertson for the Liberal Party. He later served as Administrator of the Northern Territory from 1964 to 1970 and as Australia's consul-general in San Francisco from 1970 to 1974.

Early life and education Roger Levinge Dean was born on 10 December 1913 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. He was the son of Freda Mary (née Levinge) and Charles Dean. His father was a pottery manufacturer and company director.

Dean's parents moved to Newcastle, New South Wales when he was a young child, where he attended Broughton School and Newcastle Boys' High School. He left school in 1931 and began working as a clerk for Rylands Brothers Pty Ltd, a wire manufacturer.

In parliament, Dean was chair of the Joint Statutory Committee on Public Works from 1962 to 1964. In 1963 he chaired a House select committee into grievances raised in the Yirrkala bark petitions over the treatment of the Yirrkala people on their Arnhem Land reserve in the Northern Territory.

Dean spoke frequently in parliament on matters relating to Indigenous Australians and the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. He was also an advocate for closer relations between Australia and South-East Asia. He studied the Malay language and "regularly entertained South-East Asian students at his Gosford home". He accordingly resigned from parliament on 30 September 1964.

In December 1969, it was announced that Dean would retire as Northern Territory administrator in March 1970 and would instead be posted to the United States as Australia's consul-general in San Francisco. He remained in that role until 1974.

Personal life and honours In 1950, Dean married Ann Manning, with whom he had two children. Outside of politics he was active in the Food for Babies Fund, the Order of the British Empire Association, and the Australian-American Association. He was a member of the Anglican Synod of New South Wales from 1960 to 1962.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1968.

Dean retired to Sydney and was widowed in 1982. He died on 7 January 1998 in Turramurra, New South Wales.