predecessor successor death_date birth_place death_place title nationality party birth_date term_start article_title term_end name occupation
sir william spooner chris puplick 25 december 2006 broken hill , new south wales sydney senator for new south wales australian liberal party of australia 29 november 1915 4 august 1965 bob cotton
 13 july 1978 sir robert cotton businessman , pastoralist
bob cotton

sir robert carrington `` bob '' cotton order of st michael and st george ao -lrb- 29 november 191525 december 2006 -rrb- was an australian politician and senator for new south wales in the parliament of australia from 1966 to 1978 .
during that period he held the portfolios of minister for civil aviation in the gorton and mcmahon governments , and minister for industry and commerce in the fraser government .
cotton was born in broken hill , new south wales , in 1915 .
he was educated at st peter 's college , adelaide and trained as a royal australian air force pilot in 1942 and 1943 , but did not participate in action in world war ii as he was seconded to the department of supply .
instead cotton established the timber industry in oberon , new south wales as a wartime priority .
after the war cotton became a businessman and pastoralist in oberon .
he was a member of the liberal party of australia from its foundation in 1944 .
in 1949 and 1950 he was president of oberon shire council .
in the 1951 federal election he ran unsuccessfully for the seat of macquarie against the sitting australian labor party member ben chifley -lrb- the leader of the opposition and a former prime minister -rrb- .
from 1957 to 1960 he was new south wales state president of the liberal party .
cotton was appointed to the senate to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of sir william spooner in august 1965 .
he was minister for civil aviation from 1969 to 1972 and minister for industry and commerce from 1975 to 1977 .
cotton retired from parliament in 1978 .
he was australian consul-general in new york from 1978 to 1981 .
he was a director of the reserve bank of australia in 1981 and 1982 and was the australian ambassador to the united states from 1982 to 1985 , and from 1991 to 1994 he was chairman of the australian national gallery foundation .
he died on christmas day 2006 in sydney aged 91 after a long illness .
he was survived by his second wife , two daughters and a son , three stepchildren , seven grandchildren , four great-grandchildren and a sister .
