Alexander James de Burgh Forbes, (16 December 1923 – 10 August 2019), often known as A. J. Forbes, was an Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1956 to 1975 as a member of the Liberal Party, representing the Division of Barker in South Australia. He held ministerial office in the Coalition governments of the 1960s and 1970s, serving as Minister for the Navy (1963–1964), Army (1963–1966), Health (1966–1971), and Immigration (1971–1972). At his death, Forbes was the last surviving Liberal minister who served in the ministries of Sir Robert Menzies, Harold Holt and John McEwen, as well as the First Gorton Ministry.
Early life and military service
Forbes was born on 16 December 1923 in Hobart, the son of Brigadier Alexander Moore Forbes. He was educated on the Australian mainland, at Knox Grammar School in Sydney and at St Peter's College in Adelaide. Having graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1942, he was commissioned into the Australian Army. He was stationed in Darwin in 1943, then assigned to the 2nd Mountain Battery. On 24 April 1945, Forbes was awarded the Military Cross (MC) in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in the South West Pacific. There was a dynastic tradition of exceptional military courage: his father had also won the MC during the First World War, and his brother Patrick Forbes later won the award during the Korean War, "the only known instance of three members of an Australian family winning similar decorations for bravery in three consecutive wars".
Following the end of the Second World War, Forbes was part of Australia's victory contingent in the London Victory Celebrations of 1946. After his discharge from the army in 1947, he studied at the University of Adelaide where he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in 1950. He then undertook postgraduate studies in political science at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was awarded a PhD in 1954. His thesis was titled The Attitude of the Dominions to Security and Welfare, 1939–45. Upon his return to Australia he lectured in political science at the University of Adelaide. He married Margaret Blackburn, the daughter of Victoria Cross recipient Brigadier Arthur Blackburn, in 1952 at St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford. They had five children together.
Politics
Early career
Forbes was president of the Mount Lofty branch of the Liberal and Country League from 1948 to 1951, as well as the founding president of the Adelaide University Liberal Union. He first stood for parliament at the 1955 federal election, aged 31, losing to the incumbent Australian Labor Party (ALP) member Pat Galvin in the seat of Kingston. The following year, he won the Liberal nomination at a by-election for the much friendlier seat of Barker caused by the death of Speaker Archie Cameron. He held the seat of Barker until his retirement in 1975.
In parliament, Forbes became part of the "Oxbridge group", the name given by journalists to a set of "outspoken" Liberal backbenchers who had studied at Oxford and Cambridge. The other members were Les Bury, Harry Turner, and Bill Wentworth; Bury and Forbes were particularly close.
Ministerial career
After the 1963 election, Forbes was elevated to the ministry as Minister for the Army in the Menzies Government. He was also appointed Minister for the Navy on a temporary basis, in the expectation that Fred Chaney would take over once parliament approved an enlargement of the ministry; this occurred in March 1964. The Melbourne–Voyager collision occurred during his tenure, although he was not held responsible. As army minister in the lead-up to the Vietnam War, Forbes successfully advocated for a selective national service scheme as a way of solving the army's manpower problems. This became the National Service Act 1964, and was a compromise between universal conscription and a military reliant upon volunteers. In 2014, he recalled "More than any other person, I had been responsible for persuading Cabinet that they should introduce this scheme. It was the right decision. [...] It was never terribly popular but it was a very fair system and I had to take the burden for that."