John Dooley (politician)

The Honourable John Dooley
Senator for New South Wales
In office 17 November 1928 – 30 June 1935
Preceded by	Albert Gardiner
Personal details
Born	11 November 1883 Tumbarumba, New South Wales
Died	2 August 1961 (aged 77) Kogarah, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Occupation	Labourer, unionist, miner

John Braidwood Dooley (11 November 1883 – 2 August 1961) was an Australian politician who was elected to the Australian Senate.

Dooley was born at Tumbarumba, New South Wales and educated at Wagga Wagga Superior Public School and at Courabyra, but left school early to become a shearer and miner. From 1901 to 1904 he was as an organizer of the Rural Workers' Union. In 1910 when he was a labourer on railways in Sydney, he helped establish the Railway Workers' and General Labourers' Association, which he helped merge into the Australian Workers' Union in 1916. He later worked as a foreman in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and on Burrinjuck Dam.^[1]

Dooley ran for Labor unsuccessfully for Senate at the 1925 election, but succeeded at the 1928 election. He was deputy leader of the Senate from August to October 1929 and from February to August 1932. He was appointed Assistant Minister assisting the Minister for Works and Railways in March 1931 in the Scullin Ministry. He remained a supporter of James Scullin rather than Jack Lang during the Labor split over the fiscal policy required to deal with the Great Depression. As a result, he lost his seat in the Senate at the September 1934 election, partly because he lost Australian Workers' Union endorsement.^[1]

Dooley returned to work as a works supervisor and died at St George Hospital, Kogarah, survived by his wife, six daughters and two of his three sons.^[1]

Notes

1. Gollan, Robin (1981). "Dooley, John Braidwood (1883 - 1961)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 2008-03-04.

He married his wife Regina, and they had 3 kids together