Harrie Walter Wade OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (10 January 1905 – 18 November 1964) was an Australian federal politician and minister.

Wade was born in Clear Lake, Victoria (about 40 km southwest of Horsham

Horsham, Victoria

Horsham is the largest city by population and regional centre of the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia and is approximately north-west of Melbourne via the Western Highway. At the 2006 census, Horsham had a population of 14,125. Horsham is in the federal Division of Mallee...

) and educated at Horsham State School and Horsham High School. He worked as a schoolteacher and clerk and then as an accountant at Goroke

Goroke, Victoria

Goroke is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria. The town is located in the Shire of West Wimmera Local Government Area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne...

. In 1932, he married Olive May Newton and they took up farming near Natimuk

Natimuk, Victoria

Natimuk is a town in Western Victoria, Australia. It is located about 300km northwest of Melbourne. A further 10km west of Natimuk is one of Australia's best climbing areas, Mount Arapiles. At the 2006 census, Natimuk had a population of 449.-History:...

.

Political career

Wade joined the United Country Party

National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

 in 1934 and was elected to the Shire of Arapiles

Shire of Arapiles

The Shire of Arapiles was a Local Government Area located in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1888 until 1995.-History:...

 in 1941. At the 1949 election

Australian federal election, 1949

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced...

, he stood for the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 seat of Wimmera

Division of Wimmera

The Division of Wimmera was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It was named after the Wimmera region in which it was located. It originally encompassed the towns of Mildura, Swan Hill and Warracknabeal, but by the time it was abolished in 1977, it had drifted south and grown...

, but it was won by the Liberal

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...

 candidate, William Lawrence

William Lawrence (Australian politician)

William Robert Lawrence was an Australian politician. Born in Horsham, Victoria, he attended state schools and then the University of Melbourne before returning to Horsham as a dentist; he also sat on Horsham City Council. In 1949, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the...

. In 1954 he moved to a farm nearer Horsham. At the 1955 election

Australian federal election, 1955

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party...

, Wade won a seat in the 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,...

 from July 1956. He was appointed Minister for Air

Minister for Defence (Australia)

The Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...

 in December 1960 and Minister for Health

Minister for Health and Ageing (Australia)

The Minister for Health and Ageing is a portfolio in the Government of Australia with the responsibility for national health policy. The current Minister for Health and Ageing is Nicola Roxon...

 in December 1961. He became Leader of the Country Party in the Senate in March 1961 and was promoted to Cabinet

Cabinet of Australia

The Cabinet of Australia is the council of senior ministers of the Crown, responsible to parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister the Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, and serves at the former's pleasure. The strictly private...

 in December 1963. He has a heart attack on his farm in October 1964 and died of myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

in November, survived by his wife and son.