Wylie Gibbs

Wylie Talbot Gibbs (26 July 1922 – 9 March 2026) was an Australian politician and surgeon. He served in the House of Representatives from 1963 to 1969, representing the Queensland seat of Bowman for the Liberal Party.

Early life and education Gibbs was born on 26 July 1922. He grew up in Ipswich, Queensland, where his father Harry was a solicitor and member of the Ipswich City Council. His older brother Harry Gibbs (junior) became Chief Justice of Australia. In 1951 he became a Fellow (FRCS) of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Royal College of Surgeons of England.

House of Representatives

Gibbs was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1963 federal election, running for the Liberal Party in the Division of Bowman and defeating the incumbent Labor member Jack Comber. He was re-elected in 1966. Gibbs was one of three Coalition backbenchers who visited the unrecognised state of Rhodesia in 1967, along with Jim Killen and Ian Pettitt. He "championed the Rhodesian cause" in parliament and in letters to newspapers, and in 1968 called the United Nations a "menace to world peace" and a "blot on humanity" that had been infiltrated by communists.

Gibbs spoke frequently on health and social services in parliament. He advocated a complete federal takeover of health services from the states, the removal of the means test for pensions, and free medical insurance for people on low incomes. The Canberra Times wrote in 1969 that he had "consistently urged changes in Liberal thinking" and at times had "contrived to sound more like an ALP man than a Liberal". He won National Party preselection for his old seat of Bowman at the 1975 federal election, but withdrew.

Personal life and death Gibbs married Audrey Wald in 1947, with whom he had three sons and three daughters. Their marriage broke up around the time that he lost his seat in parliament and divorced in 1975; Audrey (d. 2015) became a successful artist in later life. They were predeceased by two of their children, Harry in 1979 and Rosamund in 1999. Gibbs later lived in Newport, Isle of Wight.

Gibbs died on 9 March 2026, at the age of 103.

Works Gibbs published two books: