Davis Hughes

Sir William Davis Hughes (24 November 1910 – 16 March 2003) was an Australian politician and bureaucrat.

Early life

Hughes was born in Launceston, Tasmania and was educated at Launceston High School and the University of Tasmania, although he did not graduate.^[1] He married Joan Johnson in 1940 and they had one son and two daughters. He was a school teacher in Tasmania from 1927 until 1935, and at The Armidale School from 1947 until 1950. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force from 1939 until 1945, achieving the rank of squadron leader.^[2]

Political career

Hughes was elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Armidale from 1950 to 1953 and 1956 to 1973 for the Country Party. He was chosen to lead the party in 1958, but his term of office was brief because he was forced to resign in 1959 after it was revealed that he did not have the university degree which he claimed.^[3]

With the election of the Askin government in 1965, Hughes became Minister for Public Works,^[2] with responsibility for, among other things, the completion of the Sydney Opera House. Hughes refused to accept Jørn Utzon's approach to managing the Opera House project and, specifically, the construction of plywood prototypes for its interiors. He cut off funding so Utzon could not even pay his own staff and eventually forced the architect off the project by refusing to pay a fee claim for £51,000, which led to Utzon's departure. After a heated discussion about the claim Utzon sent a letter of withdrawal to Hughes on 28 February 1966 because of the disputed payment, stating "you have forced me to the leave the job"^[4] which Hughes immediately twisted in the media announcement made only hours after receiving it to be Utzon's 'resignation'.

The Opera House was subsequently completed by another architect, Peter Hall, whose altered designs did not realize Utzon's original vision.

Upon his resignation from parliament in January 1973, Hughes was appointed NSW Agent-General in London.^[5] He died at Erina, New South Wales.

He died in 2003, aged 92.

Honours

Hughes was knighted in 1975, two years after resigning from parliament.^[6]

Notes

1. "Our History- No 68. Skulduggery in the 1959 State Election". The Armidale Independent.
2. "Sir Davis Hughes (1910–2003)". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
3. Farrelly, Elizabeth (1 December 2008). "High noon at Bennelong Point". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
4. P.Drew, 1999. p.350
5. "Sir Davis Hughes". The Telegraph. 28 April 2003. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
6. "Death of the Honourable Sir Davis Hughes". Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2007-05-01.