Bob Cotton

The Honourable Sir Robert Cotton KCMG, AO
Senator for New South Wales
In office 4 August 1965 – 13 July 1978
Preceded by	Sir William Spooner
Succeeded by	Chris Puplick
Personal details
Born	(1915-11-29)29 November 1915 Broken Hill, New South Wales
Died	Sydney
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Occupation	Businessman, pastoralist

Sir Robert Carrington "Bob" Cotton KCMG AO (29 November 1915 – 25 December 2006) was an Australian politician and Senator for New South Wales in the Parliament of Australia from 1966 to 1978. During that period he held the portfolios of Minister for Civil Aviation in the Gorton and McMahon governments, and Minister for Industry and Commerce in the Fraser government.

Cotton was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, in 1915. He was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide and trained as a Royal Australian Air Force pilot in 1942 and 1943, but did not participate in action in World War II as he was seconded to the Department of Supply. Instead Cotton established the timber industry in Oberon, New South Wales as a wartime priority.

After the war Cotton became a businessman and pastoralist in Oberon. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia from its foundation in 1944. In 1949 and 1950 he was President of Oberon Shire Council. In the 1951 federal election he ran unsuccessfully for the seat of Macquarie against the sitting Australian Labor Party member Ben Chifley (the Leader of the Opposition and a former Prime Minister). From 1957 to 1960 he was New South Wales State President of the Liberal Party.

Cotton was appointed to the Senate to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir William Spooner in August 1965. He was Minister for Civil Aviation from 1969 to 1972 and Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1975 to 1977.

Cotton retired from Parliament in 1978. He was Australian Consul-General in New York from 1978 to 1981. He was a director of the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1981 and 1982 and was the Australian Ambassador to the United States from 1982 to 1985, and from 1991 to 1994 he was Chairman of the Australian National Gallery Foundation.

He died on Christmas Day 2006 in Sydney aged 91 after a long illness. He was survived by his second wife, two daughters and a son, three stepchildren, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a sister.

Honours

Cotton was knighted (KCMG) in 1978 and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993. He received a Doctor of Science from the University of Sydney in 1995.

Notes

Political offices
Preceded by Reginald Swartz	Minister for Civil Aviation 1969–1972	Succeeded by Gough Whitlam
Preceded by Clyde Cameron	Minister for Science and Consumer Affairs 1975	Succeeded by James Webster
Preceded by Lionel Bowen	Minister for Industry and Commerce 1975–1977	Succeeded by Phillip Lynch
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Nick Parkinson	Australian Ambassador to the United States 1982–1985	Succeeded by Rawdon Dalrymple