John Flanagan (11 July 1888 – 3 March 1949) was 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 1930 until 1932, representing the electorate of

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

Early years

Flanagan was born at

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

, and was a painter by trade. He worked at the Eveleigh Workshops from 1912 until 1917, when he was dismissed after taking part in the

Australian General Strike of 1917 Usually referred to as the "New South Wales General Strike", but referred to by contemporaries as "the Great Strike", it was in fact neither general nor confined to NSW. The strike was however a mass strike, involving around 100,000 workers, mostl ...

. He was reinstated in March 1919, but resigned two months later to become state secretary of the Amalgamated Coachmakers' Association, a role he held until his election to parliament.

Political career

Flanagan was the Labor candidate for

at the 1927 state election, but was defeated by Nationalist

Ernest Tresidder Ernest Philip Tresidder (30 April 1875 – 9 March 1951) was an Australian politician He was born at Bendigo to William Prideaux Tresidder and Elizabeth Jane, ''née'' White. He attended Bendigo Public School before becoming a pastry cook, ...

. In 1930, he won the seat on his second attempt, defeating Tresider with a massive swing as Labor won office under Jack Lang. His political career was to be short-lived, however; Labor's popularity collapsed as Lang was dismissed by the state Governor for his controversial response to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and Flanagan lost his seat to

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

candidate

Arthur Moverly Arthur Henry Moverly (15 March 1887 – 4 April 1956) was an Australian politician. Born at Gulgong, the son of publican John Moverly, he attended Cleveland Public School and Sydney Technical College before being apprenticed to a builder. He ...

, one of many Labor MLAs to lose his seat that year. He again contested Randwick in 1935, but lost to Moverly a second time.

Later life

Flanagan worked in a shoe store after his parliamentary defeat, and later became a shipping clerk. He divorced his wife, Gertrude Ann Flanagan, in 1938, having been married since 1915. He died on from a cerebral abscess at

St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney is a leading tertiary referral hospital and research facility located in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Though funded and integrated into the New South Wales state public health system, it is operated by St Vincent's Hea ...

and was buried at the Congregational Cemetery at Randwick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, John 1888 births 1949 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales