Robert Donald McKenzie was an Australian businessman and politician who played a significant role in the civic and political development of Western Australia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Eaglehawk, Victoria, to Margaret and Hugh McKenzie, he relocated to Western Australia in 1894 during the gold rush. He initially established a general store at Hannans, near Kalgoorlie, before expanding his commercial ventures to become a prominent timber and hardware merchant in the region.
McKenzie's transition into public life began with his election to the Kalgoorlie Municipal Council in 1895, eventually serving as the Mayor of Kalgoorlie from 1897 to 1898. His political career progressed to the state level in 1904 when he was elected to the Legislative Council of Western Australia representing the North-East Province, defeating Arthur Jenkins.
He secured re-election in May 1910 and was subsequently appointed as a minister without portfolio in the first government of Premier Frank Wilson, who had replaced Newton Moore. Following the defeat of the Wilson administration in October 1911, McKenzie continued his legislative service until his term concluded in 1916. He spent his later years in Western Australia and passed away in Perth in 1928 at the age of sixty-three.
