Harry C. Giese

This article is about the Australian public servant. For the German actor, see Harry Giese.

Harry C. Giese
AM, MBE
Harry C. Giese in the 1970s
Born(1913-12-09)9 December 1913
Greenbushes, Western Australia
Died4 February 2000(2000-02-04) (aged 86)
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Occupation(s)Government administrator, public servant, and community leader
PartnerNancy (Nan) Giese
Websitewww.harrychristiangiese.com.au

Harry Christian Giese AM MBE (9 December 1913 – 4 February 2000) was an Australian federal government administrator for the Northern Territory. He was the longest-serving member of the Northern Territory Legislative Council, from 1954 to 1973.

Early life and education

Harry Christian Giese was born in Greenbushes, Western Australia[1] on 9 December 1913, a third-generation descendant of a German family who migrated to Australia in the 1870s.[2][3][4] The family had originally migrated to Clare, South Australia, then Victoria, and then to Western Australia.[1]

Giese attended Bunbury High School, during which time his father was killed by a falling tree when Harry was 14.[1][5] The family became very poor, and it was thanks to a generous bursary scheme that Giese was able to attend the University of Western Australia (UWA).[1][6]

He played Australian rules football for UWA in 1933. Later switching to rugby union, he became a skilled full-back player and went to Ceylon with a combined Australian team. In 1937 he played for a WA team against the Springboks, and in 1946 for a New South Wales country team against the All-Blacks.[1]

Career

In 1954, after senior public service jobs in Western Australia and Queensland,[7] Giese moved to Darwin, Northern Territory as the Director of Welfare in the Northern Territory Administration.[8][9] He administered Australian federal government policy for the people of the Northern Territory under prime ministers including Robert Menzies and Harold Holt, and ministers including Paul Hasluck.

In this position, he was responsible for overseeing the Retta Dixon Home at Bagot Aboriginal Reserve in Darwin, a home for Aboriginal children, and some mothers, run by the Aborigines Inland Mission. In response to hearing that the older children were not allowed to attend the cinema or social events in Darwin unsupervised, in 1955 Giese asserted that, as wards of the state, the government should have a say in what they were permitted to do. He recommended that children from the home should also be able to become members of the Scouts and Girl Guides, as well as police clubs for boys and girls[10]

Giese was the longest-serving member of the Northern Territory Legislative Council, from 1954 to 1973.[1]

After Cyclone Tracy devastated much of Darwin on 25 December 1974, Giese headed the Darwin Disaster Welfare Council. In 1978, after Territory self-government, he became the first Northern Territory Ombudsman.[11][12][13]

As founding chairman of the NT Committee of the Menzies Foundation, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Menzies School of Health Research,[14][15] serving on its Board of Governors and as deputy chairman from 1985 to 1995. Giese's obituary in the Menzies Foundation Annual Report 1999 said: "the continuing contribution made...to the health of northern Australians is a tribute to the vision, the enthusiasm and the advocacy of Harry Giese, who first identified the need for such a School, and who later vigorously pursued its establishment and strongly supported its work".

He was often referred to as Harry C. Giese[16] or H. C. Giese.[17]

Recognition and honours

Giese was made a Member of the Order of Australia and an honorary fellow of the University of Sydney.[6]

Giese was founding president and honorary life member of numerous community service and sporting organisations, including the Royal Life Saving Society Australia, Darwin Probus Club, and the Institute of Public Administration.[18][19]

Personal life and death

Giese married schoolteacher Nancy (Nan) Wilson at St John's Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane on 4 May 1946. She went on to have distinguished career of her own, and the couple had two children.[6]

He died on 4 February 2000 in Darwin.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Australian administrator, public servant and community leader". Harry Giese. 16 December 1907. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  2. ^ Entry in Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography. Charles Darwin University, 2008.
  3. ^ Who's Who in Australia. Herald and Weekly Times. 1977–2000.
  4. ^ "Mr E.A. Giese". Western Mail. Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 21 December 1907. Retrieved 11 October 2013.(grandfather's funeral, 1907)
  5. ^ "Struck by Falling Tree, Man Fatally Injured". Western Argus. National Library of Australia. 29 November 1927. Retrieved 11 October 2013.(father's accidental death, 1927)
  6. ^ a b c d d'Abbs, Peter; Wilks, Stephen, "Harry Christian Giese (1913–2000)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 5 April 2025, This article was published online in 2025. Research edited by Stephen Wilks
  7. ^ "Sporting Round-Up: Fitness Officer's Record". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 31 August 1950. Retrieved 11 October 2013.(early jobs)
  8. ^ "Planning a program for Aborigines in the 1950s". Northern Territory Library Service. 1990. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  9. ^ Northern Territory Administration. "Welfare Branch Annual Reports, 1954–1972". Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  10. ^ "Retta Dixon Home (1946–1982)". Find and Connect. Australian Government. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Northern Territory Ombudsman First Report, date 1 July 1978 – 27 October 1978".
  12. ^ "Northern Territory Ombudsman, Australian and Pacific Regional Information Manual, 2009, page 24 (19)" (PDF).
  13. ^ "[Biographical cuttings on Harry Giese, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals] - Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  14. ^ Wrigglesworth, E.C. (1969). The Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Trust and Foundation: The First Fifteen Years. Melbourne: Menzies Foundation.
  15. ^ "Harry Christian Giese, AM, MBE, Menzies Foundation Annual Report 1999, Pages 11-13". Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Correspondence from R.L. Kirk to Harry C. Giese". The Australian National University. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Australian administrator, public servant and community leader". Harry Giese. 16 December 1907. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  18. ^ See Annual Reports and President’s Report of all organisations from the 1950s to 2000 and beyond.
  19. ^ Northern Territory Archives Service, Darwin | NTRS 226, Oral History interviews transcript 755.

Further reading

  • H.C. Giese, Director of Welfare, Partnership towards Aboriginal Progress, in Focus 70 supplement, Northern Territory News, March 1970
  • Personal papers relating to government administration in welfare and Aboriginal affairs, 1929–86, NTRS 1043/P1, Northern Territory Archives Service, Darwin
  • Welfare Branch Annual Reports, 1954–1972, Northern Territory Administration, AGPS, Canberra (at 15 Australian libraries)
  • Harry Giese, interviews April 1987 – September 1991, NTRS 226, TS 755, Northern Territory Archives Service, Darwin
  • Menzies Foundation Annual Reports, including pages 11–13 of the 1999 Annual Report
  • Annual Reports and President's Report of community organisations such as the Royal Life Saving Society at https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/nt/About-Royal-Life-Saving-NT
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