James Lionel Simmonds (9 October 1926 – 3 March 2007) was an Australian politician.
He 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 ...
to salesman Lionel William Simmonds and Myrtle Evelyn. He attended local state schools and became a toolmaker, with education from
Melbourne Technical College
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by F ...
. He was also involved in the union movement as a shop steward and branch secretary of the
Amalgamated Metal Workers Union. A member of the
Labor Party, he was secretary of the
Heidelberg West branch and campaign director for the federal seat of
Scullin. In 1969 he was elected in a by-election to 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 ...
as the member for
Reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
. He was Labor spokesman on labour and industry from 1970 to 1982 and on consumer affairs from 1973 to 1977 and from 1981 to 1982. From 1982 to 1985 he was Minister for
Employment
Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...
and Training, moving to Local Government in 1985. He stepped down from the front bench in 1988 and retired from politics in 1992.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Jim
1926 births
2007 deaths
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Politicians from Melbourne
RMIT University alumni
20th-century Australian politicians
Ministers for employment (Victoria)
Ministers for local government (Victoria)