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Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey was an engineer, diplomat, politician, governor and 16th governor-general of Australia. Elected to the House of Representatives twice, Casey was member for Corio (United Australia Party Member) from 1931 to 1940 and LaTrobe (Liberal Party) from 1949 to 1960. He was Treasurer (1935-39) in the Lyons and Page governments. Menzies appointed Casey Australia's first minister to the United States in 1940. He was a member of the British war cabinet in 1942-43 and Governor of Bengal 1944-46. In the Menzies governments, Casey was Minister for Supply and Development (1939-40 and 1949-50), Minister for Works and Housing (1949-1951), Minister for National Development (1950-51), Minister in charge of the CSIRO (1950-60), Minister for External Territories (1951-51) and Minister for External Affairs (1951-60). In 1960 he was given a peerage, and became Baron Casey of Berwick, Victoria and the City of Westminster. Casey served as Governor-General of Australia 1965-1969. He was a political rival of Menzies. He married Ethel Marian Sumner (Maie) Casey (1891-1983) in 1926.

Source

Hudson, W.J. Casey, Richard Gavin Gardiner (1890-1976), Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Published in hard copy 1993, accessed online 23 September 2012.

'Robert Menzies: Key People', Australia's Prime Ministers, National Archives of Australia, http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/menzies/key-people.aspx, accessed 23 September 2012.

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