William Conelan

William Patrick Conelan (23 December 1895 – 28 February 1983) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949, representing the electorate of Griffith.

William Conelan
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Griffith
In office
20 May 1939 – 10 December 1949
Preceded byFrank Baker
Succeeded byDoug Berry
Personal details
Born(1895-12-23)23 December 1895
Wadnaminga, South Australia
Died28 February 1983(1983-02-28) (aged 87)
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
OccupationDraper

Conelan was born in Wadnaminga, South Australia and received a primary education. He became a tailors cutter, and at 17, he became the youngest journeyman admitted to the Cutters' Union in South Australia. He then to Sydney, where he was assistant secretary of the Tailors Cutters' Union aged 18. He moved to Brisbane in 1923, and was elected as a Brisbane City Council alderman for Kurilpa Ward in 1937. He served on the council's parks committee and remained on council until his election to parliament. He was also a member of the Brisbane and South Coast Hospitals Board, a long-serving delegate to the Australian Football Council, a member of the Council of the Workers Educational Association and a trustee of Perry Park.[1][2][3][4]

At the 1939 by-election, Conelan was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Griffith. He won by only eight votes, the closest result in the House of Representatives that has ever been allowed to stand. He was the government whip in the Curtin minority government from 1941 to 1943. He held the seat until his defeat in 1949.[5][2][6][7]

Upon his defeat, Conelan became the first Queensland MP to qualify to the parliamentary pension scheme of £2000 or £8 per week.[6] He listed his occupation as "business representative" in 1951.[8] He was an unsuccessful Labor candidate for the Senate at the 1953 half-Senate election.[9] He remained involved in Labor politics, serving as president of the party's Kurilpa branch and vice-president of its Griffith Federal Divisional Executive.[10][11] He left the party in the 1957 Queensland Labor split and was a member of the campaign committee for the new Queensland Labor Party.[12]

Conelan died in 1983.[5]

References
  1. "House of Representatives". The Worker. Brisbane. 17 September 1940. p. 15. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  2. "Will the "Third Man" be—". Sunday Mail. Brisbane. 19 April 1953. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  3. "Griffith Candidates". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 17 May 1939. p. 2. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  4. "Plebescite Recount Unlikely This Week". The Telegraph (CITY FINAL LAST MINUTE NEWS ed.). Brisbane. 17 April 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  5. Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  6. ""CARRIED OUT", SAYS CONELAN". Brisbane Telegraph (CITY FINAL ed.). 22 December 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  7. "Records and Miscellaneous Facts". Psephos. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  8. "Federal Labor Team Will Be Selected December 8". The Worker. Brisbane. 22 October 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  9. "Half of Australia voted Labor in Senate poll". The Argus. Melbourne. 5 June 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  10. "KURILPA A.L.P. ANNUAL MEETING". The Worker. Brisbane. 10 March 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  11. "Griffith ALP". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 27 April 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Trove.
  12. "Political Chronicles: Queensland" (PDF). Australian Journal of Politics and History. 1957.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Francis Baker		 Member for Griffith
1939–1949		 Succeeded by
Doug Berry
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