William Hegney (11 January 1896 – 13 October 1982) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1939 to 1968. He served as a minister in the government of

Albert Hawke Albert Redvers George Hawke (3 December 1900 – 14 February 1986) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 23 February 1953 to 2 April 1959. He represented the Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch ...

. Hegney was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, as was his older brother

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(also a future MP). The brothers came to Western Australia as children, where their father worked for

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respon ...

. Hegney initially worked as a clerk with the Taxation Department, but later moved to the country, working as a shear and labourer. From 1920, he was the secretary and organiser of 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 ...

(AWU) in Northam, with responsibility for much of regional Western Australia.William Hegney
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 May 2016. At the 1927 state election, Hegney ran against Sir James Mitchell, the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

, losing by only a small margin."Pilbara Seat – Bill Hegney Selected"
– ''

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'', 5 August 1938. He was soon after elected to the state executive of the AWU, and eventually elected as a delegate from Western Australia to the AWU national executive council. At the 1939 state election, Hegney was elected to the seat of Pilbara, defeating the sitting

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

member, Frank Welsh. At the 1947 election, he defeated an independent candidate, Leonard Taplin, by only a single vote, a result that was subsequently overturned by the Court of Disputed Returns. He went on to win the resulting by-election, keeping his seat. Hegney switched to the seat of Mount Hawthorn (located within the

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

metropolitan area) at the 1950 election. His old seat was won by Aloysius Rodoreda, the former member for Roebourne. After Labor's victory at the 1953 election, Hegney was made Minister for Native Welfare, Minister for Labour, and Minister for Prices in the

Hawke government The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was su ...

. After the 1956 election, his titles were Minister for Labour and

Minister for Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, which he held until the defeat of the Labor government three years later. Hegney remained in parliament until his retirement at the 1968 election.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hegney, Bill 1896 births 1982 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian trade unionists Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Melbourne 20th-century Australian politicians Ministers for education (Western Australia)