Robert McKenzie (Australian politician)

Robert Donald McKenzie (19 March 1865 – 14 May 1928) was an Australian businessman and politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1904 to 1916. He was a minister in the first government of Frank Wilson.

The Honourable Robert McKenzie
Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia
In office 30 May 1904 – 21 May 1916
Preceded by	Arthur Jenkins
Succeeded by	James Griffiths
Constituency	North-East Province
Personal details
Born	19 March 1865 Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia
Died	14 May 1928 (aged 63) Swanbourne, Western Australia, Australia

McKenzie was born in Eaglehawk, Victoria (near Bendigo), to Margaret (née Reid) and Hugh McKenzie. He came to Western Australia in 1894, during the gold rush, and opened a general store at Hannans (near Kalgoorlie). McKenzie later expanded his business, becoming a timber and hardware merchant. He was elected to the Kalgoorlie Municipal Council in 1895, and would serve as Mayor of Kalgoorlie from 1897 to 1898. McKenzie was elected to parliament at the 1904 Legislative Council elections, defeating Arthur Jenkins in North-East Province. He was re-elected in May 1910, and when Frank Wilson replaced Newton Moore as premier a few months later he was made a minister without portfolio in the new ministry. Wilson's government was defeated in October 1911, and McKenzie left parliament when his term expired in 1916. He died in Perth in 1928, aged 63.[1]

References

1. Robert Donald McKenzie – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 June 2016.