Bill Morrison

Who was Bill Morrison?

William Lawrence "Bill" Morrison AO was an Australian politician who was a member of the Australian House of Representatives and a Cabinet minister in the Whitlam government.

Morrison was born in Lithgow, New South Wales and graduated with an honours degree in economics from the University of Sydney in 1949. He was a diplomat in the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1950 to 1969, with postings to London, Moscow, Washington, D.C., Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. His posting to Moscow was terminated by the expulsion of the entire mission in 1954 as a result of the Petrov Affair. In 1958, he married Marty Hessell, an American citizen, in Bangkok.