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stationed in Darwin until 1951 when he was transferred to Alice Springs. From 1953 until 1956 he was Manager
of Palm Valley Station near Alice Springs, where he next established himself in business as a stock and station
agent. Meanwhile Mona Greatorex became a driving force in the Alice Springs Theatre Group and did much to
enhance the artistic and cultural heritage of the Centre. In particular, she was a key organiser of the annual Festival
of Drama that began in the 1950s.
In 1965 Greatorex was one of five candidates who stood for the Northern Territory Legislative Council on
behalf of the newly formed North Australia Party, based in Alice Springs. In a bitterly fought battle, he was the
only one to win a seat when he was elected for Stuart. He was subsequently elected unopposed as Chairman of
Committees in the Council. He transferred his allegiance to the Country Party when it was formed in 1966 and in
1968 the party won four seats with Greatorex, Les McFarlane, Bernie Kilgariff and Rupert Kentish. In May 1968
Greatorex introduced the Validation of Ministerial Determinants Bill dealing with public service incompetence and
notable for its blistering indictment of successive ministers in its preamble. In his second reading speech Greatorex
said the Bill was necessary to ‘correct what might be called the scandalous inefficiency and deliberate refusal of
the appropriate Administration officers to comply with the laws of the Northern Territory.’ The Bill lapsed at the
end of the ninth Council after which the Administration introduced a similar bill without the preamble.
In 1969 Greatorex was elected President of the Legislative Council, replacing Harry Chan. He held the
position for the next five years. In 1972 Kim Lockwood, then a Darwin journalist, assessed his performance.
Greatorex was, Lockwood contended, ‘similar in several ways to Chan and is certainly equally conscious of the
duties and responsibilities of his position, which he takes very seriously. He was a member of the deputation to
Canberra and of the joint committee working on the reform problem. As President he makes little contribution to
debate but when an issue stirs him he leaves the chair and speaks from the floor and occasionally even introduces
a bill. The acknowledged leader of the four Country Party members, Greatorex usually speaks on pastoral matters
not well, but reasonably competently.’
In 1973 Greatorex was part of a delegation of elected Council members, along with Ron Withnall, Dick Ward
and Goff Letts, who met with the then federal Minister, Kep Enderby, to discuss constitutional reform and prepare
a submission for government consideration. Although the government did not accede to many of the committee’s
requests, it did eventually agree to a fully elected Legislative Assembly. This occurred at the next election in 1974
when the Country Liberal Party and independents won all seats.
Greatorex did not seek re-election. His public career, however, was not over as in 1976 he was elected Mayor of
Alice Springs in a by election held when lawyer Brian Martin resigned from the position. He remained Mayor until
the next election in 1977, when he chose not to stand. He was also active in other community pursuits, serving as
Chairman of the Northern Territory Bushfires Council and the Territory’s Road Safety Council. He was Secretary
of the Centralian Pastoralists Association and was a keen follower of cricket and bowls. He was also a member of
the Alice Springs Memorial Club and the Returned Services League, was involved with Legacy and a youth centre
and was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Country Liberal Party for his contribution to constitutional
development in the Northern Territory. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1971
and was later made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Greatorex retired to South Australia, where he spent most of his time in a hotel enterprise with his daughter and
son in law, Pam and Bob Hutchins. He died, while on holiday in the Northern Territory, on 27 January 1981.
Among those who paid tribute to him was the then Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Paul Everingham,
who was also a pallbearer at his funeral. ‘Tony Greatorex’, Everingham stated, ‘led a vigorous life and each and
every Territorian of today has benefited by it in some way. Tony Greatorex was one of those rare people about
whom no one had a harsh word to say... He was a proper gentleman.’
He was given a state type funeral at the John Flynn Uniting Church in Alice Springs, where he was buried next
to his wife who died in 1969. A Northern Territory Legislative Assembly electorate in Alice Springs was named
after him.
M Harris & G Dutton (eds), Sir Henry, Bjelke, Don Baby and Friends, 1972; Who’s Who in Australia, 1968; Centralian Advocate, January
1981; Northern Territory News, January 1981; Northern Territory Parliamentary Record, 24 February 1981; Lands Branch records; Greatorex
family papers.
BARBARA JAMES, Vol 2.GREGORY, (Sir) AUGUSTUS CHARLES (1819–1905), surveyor and explorer, was born on 1 August 1819 at
Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire. He was the fourth child and third son of Captain Joshua Gregory (78th Highlanders),
and his wife Frances, nee Churchman. The Gregory family arrived at Fremantle on 6 October 1829. In 1833
Joshua Gregory took a permanent allotment of 810 hectares, Rainworth, on the Middle Swan, where the family
led a tough pioneering life. In England Augustus had been privately tutored, but in Australia his mother, who had a
keen intellect and was ambitious for her sons, taught him. He was a diligent pupil with an aptitude for mathematics
and natural sciences. From necessity, on the farm, he soon mastered the skills of a carpenter, blacksmith and
builder. By virtue of an extra job with a chemist, he acquired knowledge and a continuing interest in pharmacy.
Both innovative and inventive, Gregory was adept with his hands, a good shot and an excellent horseman.
Of medium height and sturdy build, he had dark hair, a neatly trimmed beard, alert blue eyes and a friendly smile.
He was personally well organised and capable of prolonged physical endurance. He learned, from youthful contact
with Darling Range Aborigines, something of their customs, dialects and bush survival skills. In maturity, he was
self-reliant, conscientious, ambitious, yet of modest demeanour, and had early conformed to Anglican tenets.