Tony Luchetti

Anthony Sylvester Luchetti, AM (27 May 1904 – 11 July 1984) was a long serving Australian federal member of parliament.

Tony Luchetti AM
Member of the Australian Parliament for Macquarie
In office 28 July 1951 – 11 November 1975
Preceded by	Ben Chifley
Succeeded by	Reg Gillard
Personal details
Born	27 May 1904 Lowther, New South Wales
Died	11 July 1984 (aged 80)
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Occupation	Miner, journalist

Born of Italian/Irish parentage in Lowther, New South Wales, Luchetti was educated in the Catholic school system before working in jobs as varied as miner and journalist. Involved in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from an early age, Luchetti was elected to the Lithgow City Council and served on the New South Wales ALP Executive from 1929 to 1931.

Luchetti developed a close friendship with the local federal Member of Parliament, the future Prime Minister Ben Chifley, and served as Chifley's campaign manager for the electoral Division of Macquarie for two elections. However, following a split in the New South Wales Labor ranks led by New South Wales Premier Jack Lang, Luchetti, a Lang supporter, stood against Chifley. The Labor vote split between the two candidates, enabling the opposition United Australia Party candidate, John Lawson, to win the seat. The two would remain on less than cordial terms for the rest of Chifley's life. Luchetti remained active in the Labor movement, however, and following the death of Chifley in 1951, Luchetti won Labor pre-selection for the Macquarie electorate and the subsequent by-election and served as the member for Macquarie until his retirement in 1975.

References

• Day, D. (2001) Chifley, Harper Collins, ISBN 0-7322-6702-1.

External links

• A 1959 image of Luchetti can be found here