Edric Bastyan Lieutenant - General Sir Edric Montague Bastyan , KCMG , KCVO , KBE , CB ( 5 April 1903 – 6 October 1980 ) was Governor of South Australia from 4 April 1961 until 1 June 1968 then Governor of Tasmania from 2 December 1968 until 30 November 1973 . He was the last British person to be governor of either state . Military career . After studies at the Royal Military Academy , Bastyan was commissioned in the Sherwood Foresters on 30 August 1923 , and promoted to Lieutenant on 30 August 1925 . He was promoted to Captain in the West Yorkshire Regiment on 4 April 1935 and attended the Staff College at Camberley from 1936 – 1937 , transferring to the Royal Irish Fusiliers in 1937 , and seeing service in Palestine from 1938 - 1939 . Bastyan was promoted to Major on 30 August 1940 From November 1939 to June 1941 , Bastyan served as a GSO 2 in Palestine with the Royal Irish Fusiliers and was mentioned in despatches in March 1941 . He served as assistant quarter - master general in the Middle East from July 1941 to May 1942 , subsequently as deputy director of the Higher Commander ' s Course from May to October of that year . Bastyan was appointed an OBE in September 1942 , by which time he was a temporary Lieutenant - Colonel . He was promoted to temporary Brigadier the following month and confirmed as a war substantive Lieutenant Colonel in November 1942 . Bastyan served as a temporary Brigadier ( quartermaster ) from then until January 1944 , when he was appointed a CBE . He was appointed a CB in August 1944 In December 1944 , Bastyan was appointed an acting Major - General ( Administration , Allied Land Forces , South East Asia ) . He was promoted to Colonel in July 1945 and confirmed as temporary Major - General in October 1946 . After the war , Bastyan served as the general commanding the BAOR until 1948 , after which he worked at the War Office through 1952 . He was promoted to substantive Major - General on 26 January 1948 , with seniority from 13 April 1946 . During his military career , senior posts held by him included head of logistics during the Berlin airlift ( 1946 – 48 ) and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong from 1957 to 1960 . He retired from the army in 1960 and was appointed Governor of South Australia on 4 April 1961 . On two occasions during his period as governor in South Australia , the elections did not result in a clear majority . In both 1962 and 1968 , rather than make a precipitate decision to select the premier from the party with the largest minority ( and more than 50 % of the votes ) , he bided time and waited for parliament to meet . In both cases , the quick decision would have turned out to be wrong , and the South Australian House of Assembly selected the premier from the other party . In 1962 , this allowed the Liberal Playford government to continue rather than the Labor Party led by Frank Walsh . In 1968 , the Labor government of Don Dunstan lost to the Liberals led by Steele Hall . Without this leadership from the governor , there would likely have been a need for another election much sooner . Bastyan ' s term in office in Tasmania was relatively uneventful , though he did have to deal , after the 1969 State election , with a deadlocked House of Assembly where both the ALP and Liberal Party had the same number of seats . The matter was resolved by a single representative of the Centre Party entering into a coalition with the Liberals . Bastyan returned to Adelaide in his retirement . Honours and awards . Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George - 1962 < br > Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order - 1963 < br > Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire - 1957 ( CBE - 6 January 1944 , OBE - 9 September 1942 ) < br > Companion of the Order of the Bath - 31 August 1944 < br > Mention in Despatches - 1 April 1941