Moss Cass - Biography

Moses (Moss) Henry Cass (born 18 February 1927) is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives. Born in Narrogin, Western Australia, Cass was educated in state schools before graduating in Medicine from the University of Sydney and worked as a Research Fellow at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and as Director of the Melbourne based Trade Union Clinic and Research Centre. His union activities led to his pre-selection as the Labor candidate for the federal seat of Maribyrnong, which he won from the Liberals in 1969. Cass became part of the first national Labor government in 23 years when Gough Whitlam led the ALP to power in the 1972 election.

Appointed Minister for the Environment and Conservation, Cass was unsuccessful in seeking to prevent the flooding of Lake Pedder in Tasmania. Nonetheless he did lay the groundwork for the end of sandmining on Fraser Island and government protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

Retiring from politics in 1983, Cass is now a Patron of the Sustainable Living Foundation and chair of the Australian National Biocentre [1]. He is an Honorary Fellow at the School of Social and Environmental Enquiry, University of Melbourne.