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24 unusual facts about Australian Labor Party


Albert Hall, Canberra

In the lead-up to the 2007 Federal Election, the Labor Senator Kate Lundy committed $500,000 to the restoration of the Albert Hall.

Austin Hospital, Melbourne

The Labor Party pledged its opposition to the privatisation proposal.

Bettina Gorton

Gorton had attended a dinner at the American Embassy in Canberra, accompanied not by his wife, but by Geraldine Willesee, the daughter of a Labor senator, Don Willesee.

Brisbane Rugby League premiership

The "founding fathers" of the QARFL included John Fihelly, an Australian Labor Party Member of Parliament who became Minister for Railways and Deputy Premier.

Constitutional Commission

In 1985 a Constitutional Commission was established (by the Hawke Labor government) to review the Australian Constitution.

Corymbia aparrerinja

In 1891 in Barcaldine, Queensland, a Ghost Gum, known as the Tree of Knowledge, was the focal point of a gathering of striking sheep shearers, a key event leading to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.

Don's Party

On the night of the 1969 federal election Don invites a small group of friends to celebrate a predicted Australian Labor Party (ALP) election victory, much to the dismay of his wife.

Elizabeth Quay

This was disputed by the Australian Labor Party, and the projected number reduced and reference to visitors clarified to include tourists, local visitors, and those who will be living and working in the area on a day-to-day basis.

Enhanced geothermal system

On 30 May 2007, then Australian opposition environmental spokesperson and former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garrett announced that if elected at the 2007 Australian Federal Election, the Australian Labor Party would use taxpayer money to subsidise putting the necessary drilling rigs in place.

George Thomas Gahan

As the Cold War dragged on, the Australian Leftwing remained deeply divided and the split within the Australian Labor Party continued to grow.

The Liberal Party was aided by preferences from the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), which had broken away from the Australian Labor Party during the 1950s claiming that the root organisation was too soft towards communism; fears of left-wing influence was causing great concern in Australian society at the time.

James O'Grady

The first Labour politician to be appointed as a colonial governor by a Labour government, his appointment was resisted by the Australian Labor Party, which wanted the job to go to an Australian.

Justin O'Byrne

Justin Hilary O'Byrne, AO (1 June 1912 – 10 November 1993) was a long-serving Australian Labor Party politician who represented Tasmania in the Federal Senate from 1947 to 1981, acting as President of the Senate from 1974 to 1975.

McIver railway station

The station was opened on 1 September 1989 and named after Ken McIver, a long serving steam engine driver and Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Northam and Avon from 1968 until 1986.

Melbourne tram route 75

During the 1999 election campaign the Australian Labor Party committed to extend route 75 to Westfield Knox, this was later changed to the current arrangement, with it terminating at Vermont South, and connecting bus, operated by Ventura Bus Lines – the Knox Transit Link (run as part of Route 732) – running to Westfield Knox, the bus meets every tram and runs only within Zone 2.

National Wine Centre of Australia

Its development by the Olsen Liberal State Government was shrouded in controversy and it was labelled as a white elephant by the Opposition.

Olive Zakharov

She also continued to be politically active, being involved in the local branch of the Australian Labor Party.

Province of Bumbunga

In November, 1975, the Australian Labor Party government of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was dismissed under controversial circumstances, by Governor-General John Kerr.

Sam Goldbloom

After the war, he became a prominent member of the Australian Labor Party, and was also active in the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism.

Sandringham railway line

The Cain Labor government in the 1980s proposed rebuilding the line as a light rail line, but since then patronage has grown considerably and even with the 8-minute peak-period frequency, trains are heavily loaded.

Tom Mann

Settling in Melbourne, he was active in Australian trade unions and became an organiser for the Australian Labor Party.

Tom Tunnecliffe

He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the districts of West Melbourne (1903–1904), Eaglehawk (1907–1920) and Collingwood (1921–1947) for the Australian Labor Party.

Wallarah 2 Coal Project

Former state Labor MP for Wyong David Harris said he was opposed to the mine, adding he was "concerned about the noise and dust impacts on the community and for the future of the Wyong Employment Zone at Warnervale".

Walt Secord

He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since May 2011, when he was elected to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Eddie Obeid.


Angela Pippos

Angela was asked by the Australian Labor Party to stand for the Victorian seat of Williamstown, vacated by former Premier Steve Bracks in 2007, but she turned it down.

Archibald Stewart

He helped found the Ballarat branch of the Labor Party in 1902 and was its secretary from 1905 to 1906; he was involved in James Scullin's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to unseat Alfred Deakin at the 1906 federal election.

Ark Tribe

The decision had political implications for the relationship between the Australian Labor Party and the union movement, especially with regards to the latter's continuing campaign to have the Australian Building and Construction Commission abolished.

Australian Labor Party Caucus

The Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party, commonly known as The Caucus which consists of the Federal Labor Party's currently elected members of Parliament, is divided along formal factional lines.

Australian Labor Party leadership spill, 2010

Gillard had been the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party since 4 December 2006, and had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Australia after Labor's landslide victory in the 2007 federal election.

Barry Pullen

He was a Minister in the Cain and Kirner Labor Victorian State Governments, and held the Legislative Council seat of Melbourne in the Victorian Parliament from 1982–1999.

Bickley Vale, New South Wales

It sits within the state electorate of Camden, represented by Labor's Geoff Corrigan, the former Mayor of Camden, and the federal electorate of Macarthur, represented by Liberal's Pat Farmer, the former ultra-marathon runner.

Casual vacancies in the Australian Parliament

On 9 February 1975, the New South Wales Labor Senator Lionel Murphy resigned from the Senate to take up an appointment as a judge of the High Court of Australia.

Cobbitty, New South Wales

The suburb is in the federal electorate of Macarthur, represented by former marathon runner Pat Farmer (Liberal), and the state electorate of Camden, held by former mayor Geoff Corrigan (Labor).

Currans Hill, New South Wales

The suburb is contained within the federal electorate of Macarthur, represented by Russell Matheson (Liberal), and the state electorate of Camden, currently held by former mayor Geoff Corrigan (Labor).

Don Nardella

He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Parliament since 1992, sitting first in the Legislative Council for Melbourne North Province and then in the Legislative Assembly for Melton.

Electoral district of Strathfield

The seat has tended to lean towards Labor ever since, with Whelan being succeeded by Virginia Judge then Judge being defeated at the 2011 State election by Liberal and current member Charles Casuscelli.

Faceless men

It was first used in 1963 by Alan Reid, a journalist working for Sir Frank Packer's conservative Sydney Daily Telegraph, referring to the 36 members of the Australian Labor Party's Federal Conference, which at that time decided the party's election policy.

Ged Kearney

On 31 May 2013 she indicated she was considering nominating for Australian Labor Party preselection for the seat of Batman in the Australian House of Representatives, to contest the 2013 federal election (at that time scheduled for 14 September).

Hamilton Lamb

His son, Tony Lamb, would also go into politics, representing the federal seats of La Trobe (1972–1975) and Streeton (1984–1990) for the Australian Labor Party.

Harry Kneebone

In 1931 he was appointed to the Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for South Australia, filling the casual vacancy caused by the death of Country Party Senator John Chapman, but lost it in the election of later that year.

Hove, South Australia

The suburb is represented by Australian Labor Party member Chloë Fox in the South Australian Parliament for the electorate of Bright.

Ian McLachlan

It was revealed in 2006 that McLachlan was present at a meeting between John Howard and Peter Costello, arranging a handover of power after one and a half terms if Howard was allowed to become opposition leader without challenge, and then won office from the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Ignatius Boyle

He served as the member for Avon until the 1943 election, at which time he was defeated on a 15-vote margin by Labor candidate William Telfer.

Josh Frydenberg

After his defeat, Frydenberg was encouraged to run for preselection in the Division of Chisholm by Peter Costello, a marginal electorate neighbouring Kooyong; the seat was held by Anna Burke of the ALP, and was previously held by one of Frydenberg's mentors, Michael Wooldridge.

Lin Thorp

During her time as Labor member she has announced a number of government achievements in information technology including; the opening of an online access centre in Clarendon Vale and the $4 million "Laptops for Teachers" program also speaking out against the Howard federal government's sale of Telstra.

Lismore, Victoria

Notable people from Lismore include Gordon Bryant, a Labor politician and minister in the Whitlam government, Tony Street, a Liberal politician and minister in the Fraser government, Olympic Silver medallist Ji Wallace, and Simon Hussey, who was born in Lismore in 1960, and is a multi ARIA award winning producer and composer for Daryl Braithwaite and James Reyne.

Lou Cunningham

Cunningham was president of the local branches of the No Conscription League and the Australian Labor Party, and, having failed to enter the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1917 via the seat of Gough, he defeated Labor defector William Webster in 1919 to take the seat of Gwydir in the Australian House of Representatives.

Max James

James ran as an independent candidate at the 2010 South Australian state election in the House of Assembly seat of Port Adelaide held by Rann Labor Treasurer Kevin Foley.

North Central Metropolitan Province

The province had two concurrent members during its brief history — Joe Berinson and Sam Piantadosi, both of the Australian Labor Party.

Oran Park, New South Wales

The suburb is contained within the federal electorate of Macarthur, represented by former ultra-marathon runner Pat Farmer (Liberal), and the state electorate of Camden, currently held by former mayor Geoff Corrigan (Labor).

Peter Nugent

He entered parliament when he defeated the incumbent Labor candidate, John Saunderson, in the 1990 federal election.

Ron Hoenig

Ron Hoenig (born 21 April 1953) is an Australian barrister who served as Mayor of the City of Botany Bay in New South Wales from 1981 to 2012, a record 31 years, before standing down and winning the 25 August Heffron by-election in state parliament for the Australian Labor Party.

Rupert Hamer

Employing the slogan "Hamer Makes It Happen", he won a landslide against the Labor opposition under Clyde Holding, and an ever bigger victory (also against Holding) in 1976.

Secret Harbour, Western Australia

Secret Harbour is part of the federal seat of Brand, currently held by Labor's Gary Gray since the 2007 election, and the state seat of Warnbro, currently held by Labor's Paul Papalia since the 2008 election.

Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia

At the 2007 federal election, it was claimed by the Liberal Party that George Newhouse, the high-profile Australian Labor Party candidate for the seat of Wentworth, was ineligible to stand for parliament under sub-section v of Section 44.

Susan Davies

Davies joined the Australian Labor Party in 1993,as part of the rural protest against Kennett government funding and service cuts, and was the Labor candidate for Gippsland West in the 1996 Victorian state election.

Tasmanian state election, 1986

The Labor Party held 14, and there were three independents—former Labor Premier Doug Lowe, Green independent Bob Brown, and ex-Liberal MHA Gabriel Haros.

Western Australian state election, 1986

The Labor government, led by Premier Brian Burke, won a second term in office against the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Bill Hassell since 16 February 1984.

Western Australian state election, 1989

The Labor government, led by Premier Peter Dowding, won a third term in office against the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Barry MacKinnon.

Western Australian state election, 1996

The LiberalNational coalition government, led by Premier Richard Court, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Dr Geoff Gallop since 15 October 1996.