Eric Reece facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Reece
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| 32nd Premier of Tasmania | |
| In office 26 August 1958 – 26 May 1969 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Cosgrove |
| Succeeded by | Angus Bethune |
| Constituency | Darwin/Braddon |
| In office 3 May 1972 – 31 March 1975 |
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| Preceded by | Angus Bethune |
| Succeeded by | Bill Neilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 July 1909 Mathinna, Tasmania, Australia |
| Died | 23 October 1999 (aged 90) Hobart, Tasmania |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Political party | Labor Party |
| Spouse | Alice "Lal" Hanigan |
Eric Elliott Reece (born 6 July 1909, died 23 October 1999) was a very important leader in Tasmania, Australia. He was the Premier of Tasmania two times. A Premier is like the head of the government for a state. Eric Reece served from 1958 to 1969 and again from 1972 to 1975.
He was Premier for 13 years in total. This makes him the second longest-serving Premier in Tasmania's history. Only Robert Cosgrove served for a longer time. Eric Reece was also the first Premier of Tasmania to be born in the 1900s.
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Early Life and Work
Eric Reece was born in a small town in Tasmania called Mathinna. When he was 25, in 1934, he found a job at a copper mine. He had been looking for work for four years before that.
After starting his job, he joined the Australian Workers' Union. This union helps workers with their rights and conditions. From 1935 to 1946, Eric Reece was in charge of the union's work on the West Coast of Tasmania.
Starting in Politics
Eric Reece tried to become a member of the Australian Parliament twice. He ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1940 and 1943. However, he did not win either time. In 1943, he lost to a famous politician named Dame Enid Lyons.
In 1946, Eric Reece was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. This is Tasmania's state parliament. He represented the area called Darwin, which was later renamed Braddon in 1955. He stayed in this seat until he retired in 1975.
Becoming Premier
Right after being elected in 1946, Eric Reece became a minister in the government. He worked under the Premier at the time, Sir Robert Cosgrove. For the next 12 years, he held different important jobs. These included being in charge of Mines, Housing, and Lands and Works.
While doing these jobs, he was also the national president of the Labor Party from 1952 to 1955. In 1958, Sir Robert Cosgrove retired. Eric Reece then became the leader of the state Labor Party and, because of that, the Premier of Tasmania.
Losing and Regaining Power
In 1969, Eric Reece's Labor Party lost the election. This was a surprise because the Labor Party had been in charge of Tasmania for 35 years without a break. The Liberal Party, led by Angus Bethune, won by a small number of seats. They formed a government with another politician, Kevin Lyons, who had started his own party.
However, this new government did not last long. Kevin Lyons left the group, which meant Angus Bethune had to call another election in 1972. Eric Reece and the Labor Party won this election by a lot! It was a big win for him personally too. He received the most votes of any candidate in his area, Braddon. Eric Reece is still the last person to become Premier of an Australian state again after losing the job.
'Electric Eric' and Lake Pedder
Eric Reece was very supportive of the Hydro Electric Commission in Tasmania. This commission builds dams and power stations to make electricity from water. Because of his strong support for these projects, people gave him the nickname 'Electric Eric'.
In 1972, he made a controversial decision. He approved the flooding of Lake Pedder in Tasmania's south-west. Many people protested against this, and even the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, offered money to save the lake. But Eric Reece refused the offer. He said he would not let the national government interfere with Tasmania's rights.
He once explained his decision by saying:
There was a National Park out there, but I can't remember exactly where it was ... at least, it wasn't of substantial significance in the scheme of things. The thing that was significant was that we had to double the output of power in this state in 10 years in order [to] supply the demands of industry and the community. And this was the scheme that looked as though it could do a greater part of [the] job for us.
Retirement from Politics
In the 1970s, Eric Reece also returned to being the national president of the Labor Party for a while. On 31 March 1975, he resigned as Premier and retired from politics. By this time, the Labor Party had a rule that politicians had to retire at age 65.
Eric Reece is special because he never spent a day as a "backbencher." This means he was always in an important leadership role during his 28 years in parliament. He was either a minister, the Premier, or the leader of the opposition (the main party not in government).
Even after retiring, Eric Reece still appeared in public sometimes. In 1982, he joined a rally in Queenstown to support building the Gordon-below-Franklin dam. He even marched with the Premier at the time, Robin Gray, who was a big fan of Eric Reece. Eric Reece died on 23 October 1999, when he was 90 years old.
