Len Reid

{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Redirect|Leonard Reid|the English cricketer|Leo Reid|the home named after the American of the same name|Leonard Reid House|the American dancer|Leonard Reed|the American academic|Leonard Read}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Len Reid | honorific_suffix = | image = Len_Reid_1970.png | constituency_MP = Holt | parliament = Australian | majority = | predecessor = ''New seat'' | successor = Max Oldmeadow | term_start = 25 October 1969 | term_end = 2 December 1972 | constituency_AM1 = Dandenong | assembly1 = Victorian Legislative | predecessor1 = Ray Wiltshire | successor1 = Alan Lind | term_start1 = 31 May 1958 | term_end1 = September 1969 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1916|9|21}} | birth_place = Clifton Hill, Victoria | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2003|4|22|1916|9|21}} | death_place = Melbourne, Victoria | spouse = Joan Swallow | party = Liberal Party | relations = | children = Roger and Virginia | alma_mater = | occupation = Fighter pilot, dairy farmer | profession = BP petroleum company | signature = | website = | footnotes =  | allegiance = Australia | branch = Royal Australian Air Force | service_years = 1940–1946<br/>1948–1954 | rank = Flight Lieutenant | servicenumber = | unit = | commands = No. 79 Squadron RAAF | battles = {{tree list}} * Second World War ** European theatre ** Mediterranean and Middle East theatre *** Siege of Malta ** Pacific War {{tree list/end}} | mawards = Distinguished Flying Cross }}

'''Leonard Stanley Reid''', {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|DFC}} (21 September 1916 – 22 April 2003) was an Australian fighter pilot and politician who represented the Liberal Party as a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and the Australian House of Representatives.

Reid served as a fighter pilot in both the Royal Australian Air Force and on attachment to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 4 December 1942.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35809/supplements/5267/page.pdf Supplement to the London Gazette 4 December 1942]</ref> After the war, he ran a dairy farm in Cranbourne, Victoria before being elected to the Electoral district of Dandenong at the 1958 Victorian state election. Reid served as the member for Dandenong for 11 years,<ref>{{Cite re-member|num2=1520|name=Leonard Stanley Reid|access-date=2022-08-04}}</ref> before resigning his seat to contest the newly created federal Division of Holt, which covered much of the same area as Dandenong, at the 1969 federal election.<ref name=Joan>[http://www.caseyweeklycranbourne.com.au/news/local/news/general/cranbourne-loses-mover-and-shaker-joan-reid/2281278.aspx Casey Weekly ''Cranbourne loses mover and shaker''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205002818/http://www.caseyweeklycranbourne.com.au/news/local/news/general/cranbourne-loses-mover-and-shaker-joan-reid/2281278.aspx |date=5 December 2014 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2023}}</ref> Reid won narrowly, but was defeated at the 1972 federal election partly due to the swing that ousted the McMahon government and partly due to demographic changes which saw Dandenong develop as a major industrial centre.

Whilst a member of the lower house he crossed the floor and voted with the Labor Party or abstained from voting.<ref name=Joan/>

Reid was avidly connected with people who were marginalised in society and actively concentrated on the poor in India and Bangladesh. His publications included ''Crusade against Death''.<ref>[http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/433562 National Library of Australia]</ref> He was one of the founders of the charity "For Those Who Have Less", now part of "Action Aid Australia".<ref>[http://home.vicnet.net.au/~action/pub/jun_03/june_2003_1.htm Action Aid Australia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329113013/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~action/pub/jun_03/june_2003_1.htm |date=29 March 2007 }}</ref>

In 1946, Reid married Joan Averill Swallow, daughter of Leonard Swallow and Dorothy Comyn,<ref name=Joan/> the niece of Hugh Comyn and William Leslie Comyn. Reid and his wife had two children, Virginia and Roger.<ref name=Joan/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{s-new|division}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Holt|years=1969–1972}} {{s-aft|after=Max Oldmeadow}} {{s-par|au-vic-la}} {{s-bef|before=Ray Wiltshire}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Dandenong | years=1958–1969}} {{s-aft|after=Alan Lind}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Len}} Category:1916 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Australian World War II flying aces Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Holt Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Category:Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Category:Royal Australian Air Force officers Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Category:People from Clifton Hill, Victoria Category:People from Cranbourne, Victoria Category:Military personnel from Melbourne Category:Politicians from Melbourne Category:Australian MPs 1969–1972