Magnus Cormack

The Honourable Sir Magnus Cormack KBE
President of the Australian Senate
In office 17 August 1971 – 8 July 1974
Preceded by	Alister McMullin
Succeeded by	Justin O'Byrne
Senator for Victoria
In office 28 April 1951 – 30 June 1953
In office 1 July 1962 – 30 June 1978
Personal details
Born	(1906-02-12)12 February 1906 Wick, Caithness, Scotland
Died	26 November 1994(1994-11-26) (aged 88) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Mavis Macmeikan ​ (m. 1935)​

Sir Magnus Cameron Cormack KBE (12 February 1906 – 26 November 1994) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1951 to 1953 and from 1962 to 1978, representing the Liberal Party. He was President of the Senate from 1971 to 1974.

Early life

Cormack was born on 12 February 1906 in Wick, Caithness, Scotland. He was the oldest of five children born to Violet (née Cameron) and William Petrie Cormack. His maternal grandfather John Macdonald Cameron was a Liberal Party member of the British House of Commons. Cormack's father, a medical doctor, decided to relocate to Australia for health reasons. A distant cousin was Sir Josiah Symon, a Senator for South Australia, who was also born in Wick. The family arrived in Adelaide in about 1912, and settled on the Eyre Peninsula south of Whyalla. Having begun his formal education in Scotland, Cormack attended a state school in Tumby Bay and then boarded at St Peter's College, Adelaide. From 1926 to 1931, he worked as a production manager with Holden.

During the Great Depression, Cormack went into dairy farming. In later life he observed "I had three dairy farms, and I lost money on every one of them, so I claim to know something about dairying". By 1934, he and his brothers John and William had acquired Koijak, a grazing property near Apsley, Victoria, close to the South Australian border. On 22 November 1935, Cormack married Mary Isabel Macmeikan (known as Mavis) at the registrar's office in Melbourne; she was a divorcee. The couple had four children together.

Military service

Cormack enlisted in the Militia in July 1940, and was posted to anti-aircraft regiments at Puckapunyal and Werribee. He was discharged in October 1940, but re-enlisted in June 1941 and was commissioned as a lieutenant. He received postings to the Royal Military College, Duntroon, the headquarters of the Australian Imperial Force, and the Staff College. He transferred to the regular army in August 1942. In July 1943, Cormack arrived in Port Moresby as part of the headquarters staff of the II Corps. He moved to the New Guinea Force in January 1944, where he spent four months before leaving for Townsville and receiving his discharge. He finished the war with the rank of major and was mentioned in dispatches for "gallant and distinguished service in Papua".

Early political involvement

Having been a member of the Young Nationalists before the war, Cormack joined the Liberal Party in 1946 and was involved in the party's successful campaign at the 1947 Victorian state election. He managed William McDonald's campaign in the seat of Dundas, which saw the defeat of long-serving Labor incumbent Bill Slater. Cormack was subsequently recruited to the federal policy committee, at the urging of Robert Menzies and Richard Casey. He was state president of the Victorian Liberals from 1948 to 1949.

Cormack stood for the House of Representatives at the 1949 federal election, losing to Bill Bourke in the Division of Fawkner by just 27 votes. In a speech to the Melbourne University Liberal Club in April 1950, he urged Australia to take possession of Dutch New Guinea and populate it with white settlers, in order to pre-empt an Indonesian takeover. At the 1951 election, Cormack was elected to the Senate in fifth place on the Coalition ticket in Victoria. He was one of the few Liberals to oppose the Menzies Government's attempts to ban the Communist Party, telling Menzies that it was "draconian". His first span in the Senate lasted only two years, as he was defeated at the 1953 half-Senate election. Shortly before his term ended, he was one of the senators chosen to represent Australia at the coronation of Elizabeth II.

Prior to the 1954 election, Cormack unsuccessfully contested Liberal preselection for the Division of Wannon. His opponent was future prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who was 23 years old at the time. Fraser had not expected to win, but mounted a strong grassroots campaign and impressed with his public speaking ability. Cormack's loss led journalist Don Whitington to describe him as "the unluckiest man in post-war Australian politics". He stood for the Senate at the 1955 election without success, and then the following year was defeated by George Hannan in a ballot to fill the casual vacancy caused by John Spicer's resignation.

Cormack won first place on the Coalition ticket at the 1961 election, and was elected to a six-year Senate term commencing on 1 July 1962. He became known as a . Cormack was chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1967 to 1969, and from 1970 to 1971 chaired the Select Committee on Securities and Exchange. The latter committee's report into financial malpractices received praise from the media, with The Age describing it as "probably the most incisive, impressive and influential document the Senate has ever produced". In the 1970 New Year Honours, Cormack was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), "for long political and public service".

President of the Senate

Following the retirement of Alister McMullin, Cormack was elected President of the Senate on 17 August 1971, defeating Labor's Justin O'Byrne by 31 votes to 26. He had earlier defeated Reg Withers to become the Coalition's nominee for the position, despite Withers having the support of Prime Minister William McMahon. Despite the Coalition losing the 1972 federal election, Cormack was re-elected to the presidency. He held this position until 8 July 1974, when he was succeeded by Labor Senator Justin O'Byrne. He remained a Senator until his retirement, which took effect in 1978.