Mervyn Lee

Mervyn William Lee (18 August 1920 – 13 December 2009) was an Australian politician who served as the Liberal member for Lalor from 1966 to 1969. He died in December 2009 at the age of 89.^[1]

Mervyn Lee
Member of the Australian Parliament for Lalor
In office 26 November 1966 – 25 October 1969
Preceded by	Reg Pollard
Succeeded by	Jim Cairns
Personal details
Born	(1920-08-18)18 August 1920 Broadford, Victoria
Died	13 December 2009(2009-12-13) (aged 89) Kilmore, Victoria
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Occupation	Drapery and hardware merchant

Early life and war service

Born in Broadford, Victoria in August 1920, he was educated at Kingswood College in Melbourne before becoming a Commonwealth public servant. After serving in the Royal Australian Navy in World War II 1941–46, he became a drapery and hardware merchant. He played Australian rules football for Acton in the Canberra Australian National Football League and while captain of Acton in 1947 won the Mulrooney Medal.^[2]

Political career

In 1966, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Lalor, defeating long-serving Labor member Reg Pollard.

Prior to the 1969 election, a redistribution shrunk Lalor to a quarter of its size in south-western Melbourne.^[3] The redistribution erased his majority and gave Labor a notional six-percent majority.^[4] Broadford and the surrounding areas where Lee was based in was also transferred from Lalor to the Division of Bendigo.^[5] As a result, Lee went to unsuccessfully contest Bendigo instead.^[4] He had early considered standing as the Liberal candidate at the 1969 Bendigo by-election, which would have required a by-election in Lalor.^[6]