William Thomas George Divers (1 September 1896 – 29 June 1978) was an Australian politician. He was an

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

from 1958 to 1970. He was born in Collingwood to brushmaker William Clinton Divers and Annie May Cozens. He attended the local state school and was a child actor until 1910. From 1910 to 1914 he was in the merchant navy; he served in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

from 1914 to 1918 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and then returned to the merchant navy until 1920. He was a long-serving official in the Municipal Employees Union from the 1920s, initially as an organiser (1925–1937) and industrial officer (1937–1946). During the 1930s, he clashed with the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

over their handling of pay disputes for municipal employees. He was also a City of Essendon councillor from 1932 to 1946 and mayor from 1936 to 1937. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served with the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

, serving in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and attaining the rank of sergeant. He rose to higher office in the Municipal Employees Union following the war, serving as state secretary (1946–1958), federal vice-president (1948–1953) and federal president (1953–1958). In 1954, in the leadup to the 1955 Labor split, he was a key supporter of federal intervention in the Victorian Labor Party to disband the existing state executive and confront the hard right-wing

Industrial Groups The Industrial Groups were groups formed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the late 1940s, by Catholic ALP members aligned with B. A. Santamaria's "Movement" within the ALP from 1944, to combat alleged Communist Party infiltration in the t ...

, and was a public spokesperson for the unions that supported federal leader

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General of Australia, Attorney-General and Minister for For ...

's stance on the issue. He was also a member of the Local Authorities Superannuation Board from 1947 to 1958 and a director of the Industrial Printing and Publicity Company from 1948 to 1977. In 1958 he was elected to the

for Footscray. He served until his retirement in 1970. Divers died in Footscray in 1978. In 1924 he married Ethelwynne Bowen, with whom he had two children; a later marriage on 5 November 1955 was to Lorna Jean Peters, ''née'' Forbes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Divers, William 1896 births 1978 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Melbourne People from Collingwood, Victoria