Leslie Webster

Background

Webster was born at Caulfield, and attended Caulfield Grammar School and the Dookie Agricultural College.

Career

He was a Country Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1944 to 1947, representing the electorates of Bulla and Dalhousie (1944-1945) and Mernda (1945-1947). He worked on a farm, and subsequently managed an Oakleigh timber firm from 1913 until 1918. He returned to Victoria in 1928, running a Melbourne timber and hardware business until 1932, and was a dairy farmer at Greendale from 1932.

He was the treasurer and acting secretary of the Milk Producers Association at the time of his election.

Webster was elected to the Legislative Assembly at a 1944 by-election for the seat of Bulla and Dalhousie following the death of Country Party Modern Language Association and Milk Producers" Association treasurer Reginald James. He again contested Mernda in 1947, but was defeated by Liberal Party candidate Arthur Ireland.

Webster died at East Melbourne in 1975, and was buried at Bulla Cemetery. Webster"s son, James Webster, was a Country Party (later National Country Party) Senator for Victoria from 1964 until 1980, and served as federal Minister for Science and the Environment in the Fraser government.

Achievements

• The electorate was abolished at the 1945 election, when Webster contested and won the electorate of Mernda.

Membership

He farmed at Flinders Island from 1918 to 1928, running Red Poll and Corriedale cattle and sheep studs, and serving as chairman of the Flinders Island Butter Factory Company, as a member of the local licensing court, and as a councillor for the Flinders Island Council for seven years, including a stint as shire warden. After his parliamentary defeat, Webster remained a prominent figure in agricultural circles, serving as vice-president and secretary of the Milk Producers" Association, president of the Victorian Chamber of Agriculture, as a member of the Intermediate Sentences Board, and as a member of the Milk Board and the producers" representative on the Milk Supply Committee.