Ian McManus (born 23 August 1945) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1987 to 2003, representing the electorates of Heathcote (1987–88, 1999–2003), Burragorang (1988–1991) and Bulli (1991–99). He was a parliamentary secretary in the first two terms of the Carr Labor government. McManus was born in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and his family migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

when he was a child. He attended Helensburgh Primary School, St Patrick's College in

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

and St George Technical College in Kogarah. He worked as a junior postal officer after leaving school, before joining 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 ...

, where he served as a sonar operator from 1963 to 1971, serving in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, the

Malacca Straits The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. He won the United States Unit Commendation for his service during Operation Sea Dragon in the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He left the Navy in 1971, and worked as a senior inspector with his local water board until his election to parliament. He was also an alderman with the

City of Wollongong The City of Wollongong is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the Tasman Sea, the Princes Motorway and the Illawarra railway line. Locate ...

council and Illawarra County Council from 1977 until 1983. McManus entered state politics in 1987 after winning Labor endorsement for a difficult by-election, sparked by the resignation of former Labor minister

Rex Jackson Rex Frederick Jackson (7 October 192831 December 2011) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and subsequently imprisoned for conspiracy. Early life Jackson was born in Wagga Wagga, New So ...

amidst a serious corruption scandal which would later lead to Jackson's imprisonment. The race was made further difficult for Labor due to Jackson's surprise decision to run as an independent, but McManus survived a severe anti-Labor swing to take the seat ahead of Liberal candidate Allan Andrews. After a hostile electoral redistribution, McManus shifted to the safer seat of Burragorang at the 1988 general election, where Andrews won Heathcote at his second attempt. McManus again shifted to the newly revived seat of Bulli at the 1991 election, and was re-elected in 1995 with the election of the Carr Labor government. McManus served as a parliamentary secretary in the first two terms of the Carr government, and retired in 2003. He has worked as a consultant since leaving politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, Ian 1945 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians