Eric Reece
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The Honourable Eric Reece AC |
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|---|---|
 |
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| 32nd Premier of Tasmania | |
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In office 26 August 1958 – 26 May 1969 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Cosgrove |
| Succeeded by | Angus Bethune |
| Constituency | Darwin/Braddon |
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In office 3 May 1972 – 31 March 1975 |
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| Preceded by | Angus Bethune |
| Succeeded by | Bill Neilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 July 1909 Mathinna, Tasmania, Australia |
| Died | 23 October 1999 (aged 90) Hobart, Tasmania |
| Nationality |
 Australian
|
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Alice "Lal" Hanigan |
Eric Elliott Reece, AC (6 July 1909 – 23 October 1999) was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975.
Born in the small Tasmanian town of Mathinna, Reece joined the Australian Workers' Union in 1934, having that year obtained a job at a copper mine after four years' unemployment. From 1935 to 1946 he was in charge of the AWU's West Coast District organisation.
Reece attempted to enter the House of Representatives for the Division of Darwin at the federal elections of 1940 and 1943, but failed both times. In 1943, his successful opponent was Dame Enid Lyons.
On 23 November 1946, Reece was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly, representing the state seat of Darwin. He would represent this seat, renamed Braddon in 1955, until his retirement in 1975. Straight away he was appointed to the cabinet led by Sir Robert Cosgrove, and over the next 12 years he held various portfolios, including the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Housing, and the Ministry of Lands and Works. These roles he combined with the federal presidency of the Labor Party between 1952 and 1955. He became Premier in 1958 after Cosgrove's resignation.
Unexpectedly, Reece lost the premiership in 1969, when the ALP was narrowly defeated by the Liberal Party led by Angus Bethune. This ended 35 years of uninterrupted Labor government in Tasmania. The Liberals had gained a one-seat majority in the House of Assembly by forming a coalition with former Speaker Kevin Lyons, who had founded his own Centre Party. Nevertheless, the period of non-Labor rule ended when Lyons quit the coalition, forcing Bethune back to the polls in 1972. Reece and the Labor Party regained control in a landslide win. This was as much a personal victory as a political one, since Reece himself topped the poll in Braddon with 35.4%, still a record for an individual candidate in that electorate. As of 2016 he remains the last person to make a comeback as Premier of any Australian state after losing the position.
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