Tom Howard (politician)

Thomas Patrick "Tom" Howard (13 March 1888 – 9 July 1949) was an Australian trade unionist and politician.[1] He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1933 to 1938, representing the Lang Labor Party (1933), South Australian Lang Labor Party (1933–1934) and Australian Labor Party (1934–1938).

Howard was born in Gilbert Street, Adelaide, and educated at Christian Brothers College. He became a delegate for the Labor Party in 1908, and was elected president of the Painters' Union in 1909. He became the union's assistant state secretary in 1913, and succeeded T. B. Merry as state secretary that December.[2][3] He subsequently served as the union's delegate to both the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia and the United Labor Party, served on the union's federal council, was a member of the Painters and Decorators' Wages Board, and represented the Trades and Labor Council in various capacities.[4] In 1918, he was elected president of the Trades and Labor Council, and in 1920 shifted to the role of its secretary.[5][6] He was an unsuccessful Labor candidate for the House of Assembly at the 1918 election, 1921 election and 1924 election, in the Liberal-leaning seats of Sturt and Barossa.[7][8][9]

In 1933, in the wake of the Great Depression and the 1931 Labor split, Howard was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly for Adelaide, representing the Lang Labor Party, a faction of the Australian Labor Party supporting the ideas of Jack Lang, the Premier of New South Wales. In April, however, he and fellow Lang Labor MP Bob Dale left the party after disputes with leader Doug Bardolph, forming their own breakaway group, the South Australian Lang Labor Party. In June 1934 the various Labor factions were reunited. Howard was defeated at the next election in 1938.[10]

In 1945, he retired from the union movement and his then role as state secretary of the Shop Employees and Warehouse Employees' Union, citing failing hearing.[11] He died at his home in Sturt Street, Adelaide in 1949, aged 69, and was buried in the Catholic Cemetery at West Terrace.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "Well-known Labor man dies.". News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 – 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 11 July 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "FEDERATED HOUSE AND SHIP PAINTERS EMPLOYES' ASSOCIATION.". Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 – 1924) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 7 January 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "FEDERATED PAINTERS.". Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 – 1924) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 10 December 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "MR. T. P. HOWARD.". Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 – 1924) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 15 January 1917. p. 6. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "ECHO OF RECRUITING CONFERENCE.". Daily Standard (Brisbane, Qld. : 1912 – 1936) (Brisbane, Qld.: National Library of Australia). 7 June 1918. p. 3 Edition: Second Edition. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Labor's thirty years' record in South Australia : a short history of the Labor movement in South Australia, including biographical sketches of leading members, 1893–1923. Daily Herald. 1923. p. 84.
  7. ↑ "CENTRAL DISTRICT No. 2 AND STURT.". The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 – 1929) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 11 April 1918. p. 7. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "UNION JACK, RED FLAG, and GREEN FLAG.". The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 – 1929) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 14 April 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "SOUTH AUSTRALIA.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 9 April 1924. p. 12. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Mr Thomas Howard". Parliament of South Australia. 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "MR. T. P.HOWARD RETIRES.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 – 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 21 March 1945. p. 7. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "DEATH OF MR. T.P. HOWARD.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 – 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 12 July 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Advertising.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 – 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 12 July 1949. p. 12. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
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