Chris Bowen - Labor People: The Stories of Six True Believers

My first thanks must go to Louise Adler. A book on forgotten figures of Labor history would not immediately appeal to every publisher, but her commitment to books that contribute to bringing Australian history and public policy to life remains as strong as ever. She has now arranged the publication of four of my books across three publishing houses. Australian publishing is all the richer for her ongoing, unstinting efforts.

Thanks also to the team at Monash University Publishing, led by Greg Bain. Monash recognises the ongoing importance of universities being strongly involved in publishing, but also recognises that not all academic works have to be written by academics! As some other universities have unfortunately pared back their publishing efforts, Monash plays an ongoing vital role.

Thanks also to the others in the small but highly productive Monash University Publishing team: Joanne Mullins, Sarah Cannon, Les Thomas and Sam van der Plank.

This book is edited by John Mahony, who was professional, patient and appropriately exacting at each turn; thank you. Thank you also to Mei Yen Chua for providing such a comprehensive index.

John Faulkner and Rodney Cavalier both read every word in early manuscript and both, as expected, provided invaluable advice of fact and interpretation. It goes without saying any errors are mine and mine alone.

James Mack assisted me in obtaining access to the original records of the NSW Supreme Court from the 1920s when I had very little idea how to do so. The helpful staff at the Supreme Court Registry should also be thanked.

Ken Wriedts daughters Sonja and Paula were generous with their time and feedback, which I also appreciate.

The staff in the Reading Room of the Mitchell Library within the State Library of NSW were of enormous assistance in helping me locate esoteric, long unread files and resources. The staff in the Parliamentary Library were their usual, ever helpful selves.

To Thomas McCrudden, thanks as always.

And to Bec, Grace and Max, who dont quite understand why I have spent hours on the laptop typing away about long-dead Labor figures but who have supported me in doing so anyway, all my love.

Chris Bowen is one of Labors most experienced parliamentarians. He entered Parliament in 2004 and has held a wide range of portfolios, including being Treasurer, Shadow Treasurer, Minister for Immigration and Minister for Tertiary Education.

He served as Interim Leader of the Labor Party in 2013, and is currently Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

He has degrees in economics, international relations and the Indonesian language. He is the author of three previous books: Hearts & Minds (2013), The Money Men (2015) and On Charlatans (2021).

He lives in Smithfield in Western Sydney with his wife Rebecca, their children Grace and Max, and two very cheeky Labradors, Ollie and Toby.

How much do you know about the history of Australias oldest political party, the Australian Labor Party? You know the big names: Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke and Keating. But what about the names behind the big names? The unsung and overlooked True Believers who have been the backbone of the Labor Party for 130 years?

In Labor People, Chris Bowen investigates the stories of six great Australians, passionate servants of their party. Spanning the 1890s to the 1970s, in paying tribute to these Labor warriors he also tells an important part of the history of Labor and Australia.

Who was the first loyal deputy and lynchpin of the earliest Labor governments? Which leading advocate of votes for women went on to play an important but unrecognised role in Australias literary history? Who did Labor turn to in its darkest First World War hours when its very existence was under threat? Who did Curtin and Chifley turn to for their hardest jobs? Which Labor loyalist called her own party out on police brutality when it wasnt fashionable? Which minister was Whitlams steadiest performer? The answers to all these questions and more lie in the pages of Labor People.

Chris Bowen has shone a long-overdue light on
six of Labors finest from the past. They deserve his
generous and insightful reflections.

John Faulkner

Who was the first federal deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party?

This is a trivia question that stumps some of the best informed aficionados of Labor history.

Add in a question about his disability and only a couple of people across the country can answer correctly.

But Gregor McGregor was far from a trivial figure in Labor history. He deserves a more prominent place. Labors first federal deputy leader was a powerful force in Australian politics for a decade and a half. He voted on perhaps the most important piece of progressive legislation that any Australian jurisdiction has given the world South Australias legislation to provide women with the vote and rose to be the second most senior member of the first national Labor government anywhere in the world. He was the deputy in each of Australias first three Labor governments. Any history of the pioneering Watson and Fisher governments is incomplete without a consideration of his role.

A strong personality, his speeches were legendary for their force and mastery of details; a phenomenon made more remarkable by the fact that McGregor could not use speech notes by the time he reached the peak of his political powers, he was completely blind. His blindness was the result of a workforce accident earlier in his life (possibly compounded by cataracts) which gradually and eventually removed his eyesight. His blindness meant the only way he could make speeches was from memory and without notes, which made him one of the most powerful parliamentary speakers of his era.

McGregor was the archetypal perfect deputy completely loyal to Watson and Fisher, the latter of whom he became personally very close to. His well-developed sense of humour exhibited in his public performances was a useful foil to the dry personae of his two leaders, for whom he was often the warm up act on the stump, at a time when the stump speech was the pre-eminent form of political campaigning.

He was never seriously considered for the party leadership mainly because he was in the Senate. The practice of having the partys leader in the Senate serve as the deputy leader of the broader party outlived McGregor, but not for very long. It was his personality as much as his position that determined his role as second among equals.

Gregor McGregor has long since ceased to be a household name. But he was a deeply respected and indeed loved figure in the 14 years he bestrode the national political stage. It is impossible to find a bad word written about him in the memoirs and histories of the time. On the contrary, he was lauded for his abilities. Future federal Labor MP and historian Norman Makin went as far as to write: Possibly no man in the history of the Commonwealth Parliament attained such [high] standards as parliamentarian as did this seasoned veteran of Labor.

His political opponents also recognised his abilities, although in one instance it was under a pseudonym. Australias second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, had a sideline as correspondent for the London Morning Post. Writing regular columns on Australian politics as Our Special Correspondent, Deakin didnt mind giving his political opponents an anonymous adverse character assessment. But he was happy to tell his British readers about McGregors qualities in January 1902. Its an assessment worth quoting at some length: