Laurence Elwyn Short (15 December 1915 – 24 March 2009) was an Australian

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

leader and leading figure in 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). Short was the national secretary of the Federated Ironworkers' Association (FIA), now part 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 ...

, from 1951 to 1982.

Biography

Short at first supported the idea of communism in Australia, but then rejected communism and then was an important anti-communist union leader. Short ran against Ernest "Ernie" Thornton, a member of the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...

, in the 1949 FIA elections — Thornton at first claimed victory, but later his election was ruled invalid, and Short declared the winner. Short was a non-Catholic ally of B. A. Santamaria's Catholic Social Studies Movement, but was seen as playing a key role in preventing the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

branch of the ALP from splitting along

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

lines in the

Australian Labor Party split of 1955 The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt and B. A. ...

Honours

He was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1971 by

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician, farmer and airman who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. He held office as the leader of the leade ...

's Liberal-Country Party Government, and this was followed in 1980 by his appointment as an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) by

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

Personal life

He married artist Nancy Borlase in 1941 and was father to journalist Susanna Short. Nancy died in 2002.

Biography

Honours

Personal life

References

Further reading