James Luke Cavanagh (21 June 1913 – 19 August 1990) was an Australian trade unionist and politician. A member of the

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 ...

(ALP), he was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

from 1962 to 1981 and held ministerial office in the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

as Minister for Works (1972–1973), Aboriginal Affairs (1973–1975), and Police and Customs (1975). Prior to entering parliament he was an influential union leader as secretary of the Plasterers' Society of South Australia from 1945 to 1962.

Early life

Cavanagh was born on 21 June 1913 in Paddington, South Australia. He was the youngest of three children born to Isobella (née Buckton) and James Luke Cavanagh. His father, a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

by profession, was politically active and served on the Port Adelaide City Council. Cavanagh grew up in Adelaide's inner suburbs, attending St Catherine's Dominican School in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

and the Christian Brothers' School at

Ovingham Ovingham is a village and civil parish in the Tyne Valley of south Northumberland, England. It lies on the River Tyne east of Hexham with neighbours Prudhoe, Ovington, Wylam and Stocksfield. The River Tyne provided an obstacle between Ovi ...

. He left school at the age of 14 and began working as a labourer, but struggled to find work during 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 was frequently unemployed. By the early 1930s he had joined his older brother in working as a

plasterer A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in buildin ...

Labour movement

In 1945, Cavanagh was elected secretary of the Plasterers' Society of South Australia, a position he would hold until he entered the Senate in 1962. He later served as national president of the Operative Plasterers' and Plaster Workers' Federation of Australia from 1967 to 1971. Cavanagh frequently appeared in the Industrial Court of South Australia and won a number of favourable

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

rulings for the plasterers. According to his biographer Malcolm Saunders, he turned the union into "possibly the most militant and tightly disciplined union in South Australia and in so doing made himself one of the most publicly visible trade union leaders in the state, feared, if not hated, by builders, but greatly respected in the trade union and labour movements".

Politics

Cavanagh was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

at the 1961 election. He was Minister for Works from 1972 to 1973, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs from 1973 to 1975 and Minister for Police and Customs in 1975. He did not stand for re-election at the 1980 election and retired from the Senate in June 1981.

Personal life

In 1941, Cavanagh married Elfrieda Lamm, with whom he had three children. He died on 19 August 1990 in

Woodville, South Australia Woodville is a suburb of Adelaide, situated about north-west of the Adelaide city centre. It lies within the City of Charles Sturt. The Postal code, postcode of Woodville is 5011. Woodville is bound by Cheltenham Parade to the west, Torrens Roa ...

, having been widowed several months earlier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Jim 1913 births 1990 deaths 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian plasterers 20th-century Australian politicians