William Moss

Who was William Moss?

William Lionel Moss CBE was an Australian grazier who served as federal president of the Australian Country Party from 1962 to 1968.

Moss was born near Numurkah to farmer Frederick George Moss and Isabella, née Spiers. He attended local state schools and helped on his parents' property before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 February 1917. He served in the 12th Army Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery as a gunner on the Western Front, but was badly gassed in October 1918 and returned to Australia; he was discharged from the AIF on 19 February 1919.

Returning to Victoria, Moss farmed wheat and wool at Numurkah and joined the Victorian Farmers' Union. In July 1930 he visited Canberra in his capacity as vice-president of the Victorian Wheat Growers' Association as a lobbyist, and joined the Australian Country Party in 1931. Moss opposed the pledge guaranteeing support for party policy instituted by the United Country Party and ran against the UCP's candidate John McEwen for the seat of Echuca in 1934 as the federal party's endorsed candidate. There was another split in 1938, when McEwen accepted office in the Lyons government; this time Moss supported McEwen and joined the breakaway Liberal Country Party. The parties were reunited in 1943 and Moss was involved in drafting the new constitution. He contested the Senate unsuccessfully in 1946.