16/05/2026
State Funeral for WWII Veteran, Longest-Serving WA MP
Decorated World War II veteran Bill Grayden AM, who was also Western Australia's longest-serving member of Parliament, will be honored with a State Funeral.
Mr Grayden sadly passed away on Tuesday 28 April aged 105 after a short illness, surrounded by his family and leaving an extraordinary legacy of both wartime and community service.
As a member of the 2/16th Battalion, he fought first in the Middle East and was part of the force which defeated pro-German Vichy French troops in Syria. His battalion was then sent to bolster the Allied forces in Singapore which fell before they arrived.
They were diverted temporarily to Australia and assigned to one of the most brutal theatres of WWII, the Kokoda trail, then Borneo, where he was stationed when the war ended. Prior to returning to Western Australia, he helped with the repatriation of Japanese troops.
Mr Grayden was also a member of Parliament across six decades, serving in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and the Australian House of Representatives.
In 1947, just two years after the war ended, 27-year-old Mr Grayden entered State Parliament as the Liberal MP for Middle Swan and was the youngest member of the Parliament at that time. He was known for crossing the floor - his support for the appointment of an Ombudsman in WA and the banning of cigarette advertising were two such occasions.
In 1949, he resigned to contest the Federal election and won the seat of Swan. He became a member of Robert Menzies' 1949 Government and the time of his death, was the last living member of this cohort. He campaigned strongly for lifting the ban on the export of manganese which was instrumental in the establishment of these mines in the Pilbara.
He then re-entered State politics in 1956 as the MP for South Perth and opposed his own Government regarding the relocation of Barracks Arch.
During his time in both Parliaments, he held a number of Cabinet roles and left politics in 1993, being appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 1994. Mr Grayden was also the longest serving member of the Parliamentary Liberal Party.
Further details will be announced as arrangements are worked through with his family.
Credit. Mirage news.
