Background
Hills was born in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.
Hills was born in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills.
He served in various high offices across the state most notably the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Leader of the Opposition and as the Lord Mayor of Sydney. He was an alderman on Sydney City Council from 1948 to 1956 and Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1953 to 1956, when only in his thirties. Hills was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Phillip in 1954, representing the Australian Labor Party.
He held the seat till its abolition in 1981.
Then, until 1988, he served as member for Elizabeth. He was Minister for Local Government in the cabinet of Premier Robert Heffron (1959-1964), and Deputy Premier under Heffron"s successor Jack Renshaw.
Following Renshaw"s departure from the Labor leadership, Hills was the State Opposition Leader from 1968 to 1973. At the 1971 and 1973 state elections he was narrowly defeated by the Liberal Premier, Sir Robert Askin.
During his long Parliamentary service of 34 years, Hills served terms as Deputy Premier and as Minister in a number of portfolios including Local Government, Highways, Mines, Energy, Industrial Relations, Technology, Roads and Employment.
In opposition he served as Deputy Leader for three years and Leader for five years. He was also responsible for one of Sydney"s ugliest buildings: The Hilton Hotel, which he rubber stamped. More importantly, he has been accused of sabotaging the 1948 Cumberland County Plan for Sydney, "flogging the green belt out the back door before the ink was dry".
Up until John Robertson"s resignation in 2014, Hills was the only New South Wales Labor Leader not to have been premier since World World War World War II Hills died in Sydney.
He served as a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sports Ground Trust from July 1961 to December 1989, and was Chairman of the Trust during its significant expansion period from 1977 to 1989.