Eric James Bessell was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. Born in Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

, Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, he was a pastoralist before serving in the military 1943-1944. He served as President of the Tasmanian Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 in 1966 and 1973. In 1974, he was elected to the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 as a Liberal Senator for Tasmania. He was defeated in 1975 after being demoted to sixth place on the ballot paper to make way for real estate agent Brian Archer

Brian Archer

Brian Roper Archer was an Australian Senator who represented the Liberal Party for the state of Tasmania. He served as a Senator for from 13 December 1975 to 31 January 1994....

 and nurse Shirley Walters

Shirley Walters

Mary Shirley Walters served as an Australian Senator for Tasmania from 13 December 1975. She retired from parliament on 30 June 1993. Before she entered politics she worked as a nurse. She is the daughter of Sir Eric Harrison....

. Bessell died in 1979.