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Eric Elliott Reece, AC (6 July 190923 October 1999) was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975. ==Biography== Born in the small town of Mathinna on 6 July 1909, Reece joined the Australian Workers' Union in 1934, having that year obtained a job at a copper mine after four years' unemployment. From 1935 to 1946 he was in charge of the AWU's West Coast District organisation. Reece attempted to enter the House of Representatives for the Division of Darwin at the federal elections of 1940 and 1943, but failed both times. In 1943, his successful opponent was Dame Enid Lyons. Reece was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly on 23 November 1946 representing the state seat of Darwin. He would represent this seat, renamed Braddon in 1955, until his retirement in 1975. He was immediately appointed to cabinet, and over the next 12 years he held various portfolios, including the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Housing, and the Ministry of Lands and Works. These roles he combined with the federal presidency of the Labor Party between 1952 and 1955. He became Premier in 1958 after the retirement of Robert Cosgrove. Reece lost the premiership of Tasmania in 1969, when the ALP was narrowly defeated by the Liberal Party led by Angus Bethune. This ended 35 years of uninterrupted Labor government in Tasmania. The Liberals had gained a one-seat majority in the House of Assembly by forming a coalition with former Speaker Kevin Lyons, who had founded his own Centre Party. Nevertheless, the brief period of non-Labor rule ended when Lyons quit the coalition, forcing Bethune back to the polls in 1972.〔(Bethune Memorial ), ''Stateline'' (Tasmanian edition) (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 27 August 2004.〕 Reece and the Labor Party regained control in a landslide win. Reece himself topped the poll in Braddon with 35.4%, still a record for an individual candidate in that electorate. As of 2015 he remains the last person to make a comeback as Premier of any Australian state after losing the position. Reece was well known for his staunch support of Tasmania's Hydro Electric Commission and its power development schemes on the Gordon River, which earned him the nickname 'Electric Eric'.〔Millwood, Scott. ''Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean?'' Crows Nest, NSW ISBN 978-1-74175-611-1 offers some details of his autocratic style of dealing with opposition〕 In 1972, he controversially approved the flooding of Lake Pedder in Tasmania's south west, which proceeded despite a determined protest movement and a blank cheque offer from Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to preserve the Lake Pedder area. Reece refused Whitlam's offer, stating that he would "not have the Federal Government interfering with the sovereign rights of Tasmania".〔(Lake Pedder 30th Anniversary ), ''Dimensions in Time'' (ABC TV), 10 June 2002.〕 Reece was quoted as saying:
Reece was Federal President of the Labor Party on two occasions during the 1970s. He retired from active politics on 31 March 1975 after the ALP introduced a mandatory retirement age of 65. He is one of the few Australian state politicians to have never served on the backbench, having spent his entire 28-plus years in the House of Assembly as either a minister (1946–1958), premier (1958–1969 and 1972–1975) or opposition leader (1969–1972). He was however involved in the December 1982 rally in Queenstown in support of the ''Organisation for Tasmanian Development'', and marched with fellow ex-Premier Robin Gray (a great and self-confessed admirer of his) in support of the Gordon-below-Franklin dam 〔Pink, Kerry (2001). ''Through Hells Gates: A History of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour''. Fifth edition. ISBN 0-646-36665-3. pp. 72 for photo, p. 73 for text.〕 He died on 23 October 1999 at the age of 90. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eric Reece」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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