The Brand years transformed the West: Dongara plaque unveiling to honour political icon Sir David Brand

The unveiling in Dongara this weekend of a plaque to honour the contribution of Sir David Brand is an important event. On top of being a 30-year State Member for Greenough (1945-1975), Sir David also holds WA’s record for its longest-serving premier — 11 years, 11 months and one day. But Sir David is more than just a record holder. He is effectively the father of our State’s modern economy. The changes his Government pushed through laid the foundation for the standard of living we enjoy today, which is envied by the rest of the nation. It’s not a bad achievement for a product of the Mid West whose formal education ended when he left primary school. Times were tough after World War I. It was a choice between attending Geraldton High School or helping on the farm, and the farm won. When World War II broke out, Sir David enlisted in the army and saw service in North Africa and Greece. He very nearly didn’t make it back. He was badly wounded in the right arm by tracer bullets as the Australians were retreating in Greece. The medical advice was that he would have to be left behind as a prisoner of war, as the troop ship lacked the medical equipment to treat the seriously wounded. His mates had other ideas. They hauled him on board and he spent the next few months in a Cairo hospital. His arm was saved, but the advice was that a bad knock could result in amputation. Sir David then returned to Perth and was discharged, although he continued to assist with home security issues in the region. That’s also when he married nurse Doris McNeill and they made the significant decision to settle in Dongara. The house they built is still standing strong. It was also in Dongara that Liberal Party officials approached him in 1945 to stand in the by-election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Labor MP John Newton, who went missing in action while flying missions for the RAF over Europe. Sir David consulted his wife, she agreed and the rest is history. He won the by-election on preferences, making history as the first Liberal candidate to be elected to any Australian parliament, remembering the party had been formed only in 1944. His political career never looked back. As Minister for Works in the McLarty Government, Sir David led the successful pitch — against most other States — for a new oil refinery, laying the foundation for the Kwinana industrial strip. He was elected Liberal leader in 1957 and took the coalition back into Government two years later. Sir David’s most pressing challenge was to persuade the Menzies Government to lift the ban on iron ore exports imposed by Canberra in 1938. It was believed there was plenty of ore in the North West — now simply known as the Pilbara — for both domestic needs and other nations still rebuilding after the war. It took 19 months of persistence, but the breakthrough came in November 1960 with a partial relaxation of the ban. And the rest is, again, history. Investment and people began to flood into the State and Sir David — with his “right-hand man”, Charles Court — presided over an extraordinary period of sustained growth. This region was part of it. In fact, the first ore exported from WA was not from the Pilbara but from the Mid West. On March 16, 1966, the 26,000-tonne carrier Margaret Maru left Geraldton bound for Japan with ore from Western Mining Corporation’s deposits at Koolanooka, near Morawa. The first Pilbara ore was exported 10 weeks later, on June 1, 1966. The great transformation of our State was presided over by the Brand Government, which provided the stability so crucial at such a time. We became more than just an agricultural State supplemented by gold mining. Sir David led the coalition to four election victories before narrowly losing power in 1971. But the foundation for the State’s sustained economic success had been laid. Peter Kennedy is a veteran political journalist and the author of Tales from Boom Town — Western Australian Premiers from Brand to McGowan