A tribute to Murray Nixon OAM (1936 - 2025)

Murray Nixon was dedicated to his family, to efficient productive farming, to the Liberal Party and to free enterprise and conservative values.

He was born in 1936 to a farming family, share farming from 1958 at Dalwallinu before buying Kallaroo Farm at Moore in 1964, where he was an Angus stud breeder, transferring to Gingin in 1994 and with involvement in farming and pastoral ventures in the Wheatbelt and South West. He was active in the PGA, the Farmers Union, agricultural societies in the North Midlands and Kojonup, cattle breeders’ associations and other rural organisations.

Murray’s Liberal Party involvement began in 1961 as a foundation member of the Dalwallinu Branch, followed by the presidency of the Moora Branch after 1964 and service to the Moore Division (a significantly rural division before 1980) as secretary and President, commencing over 50 years as a member of State Council.  After the formation of O’Connor Division, he served as its vice-president and President and was a Liberal Party State Vice-President on two separate occasions, serving a total of 7 years.

At the 1984 federal election, with seven WA senators being elected for the enlarged Senate, Murray Nixon volunteered for the near-unwinnable 4^th position on the Liberal team and made it to the final count. When the Legislative Council regions were created for the 1989 election, he was third on the Liberal Agricultural Region ticket and missed out for the final 5^th seat by 400 votes against the Nationals.

He was placed 2^nd on the Liberal Party ticket for the Agricultural Region in the 1993, 1996 and 2001 elections, serving eight years as a hardworking MLC with notable contributions to the Standing Committee on Constitutional Affairs, and a Select Committee on Native Title Rights. After his defeat in 2001 through a One Nation/Greens surge, he immediately threw himself back into supporting the Liberal Party organisation, serving as O’Connor divisional secretary 2002-08. 

Subsequently, he was active in the Durack Division after its creation in 2010. For some 40 years, he was a member of the Liberal Party Rural and Regional Committee, serving as Chair for over a decade before finally stepping away from State Executive and retiring to Wembley. 

Murray Nixon was awarded a Meritorious Service Award in 1991, a Distinguished Service Award in 2005, and Life Membership of the Liberal Party in 2015.  These Liberal Party honours, together with a Medal in the Order of Australia, attest to his unselfish dedication to the Liberal Party and to rural Western Australia. His Parliamentary service was only one aspect of lifelong commitment to the Liberal Party.

He combined strong convictions with practical commonsense, once noting that if we are too nice to supposedly friendly small parties “they grow into bigger parties and bite us”.

Murray and Meg Nixon were married in February 1960.  Our condolences and thanks go to her, and to their daughters Nicole, Christine and Marcia and their families.

Prepared by Jeremy Buxton