Nick Origlass (13 January 1908 – 17 May 1996) was an Australian

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

who served as mayor of Leichhardt in Sydney.

Early life

In 1932, Origlass joined 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 ...

(CPA), which was then aligned with Stalin's USSR. Expelled soon after, he became involved in the Trotskyist movement. He joined the Workers Party in 1934 and by 1937 was its leading figure. The Workers Party merged into the Communist League of Australia in 1938.

Career

In 1940, Origlass started working at

Mort's Dock Mort's Dock is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first dry dock in Australia, opening for business in 1855 and closing more than a century later in 1959. The site is now parkland. Histor ...

in Sydney's Balmain shipyards. He was elected as a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

with the Federated Ironworkers Association of Australia. Together with fellow Trotskyists

Laurie Short Laurence Elwyn Short (15 December 1915 – 24 March 2009) was an Australian trade union leader and leading figure in the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Short was the national secretary of the Federated Ironworkers' Association (FIA), now part of ...

and

Jim McClelland James Robert McClelland (3 June 1915 – 16 January 1999) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1971 to 1978. He briefly held minist ...

, he battled with the CPA-dominated leadership of the union. After Hitler's invasion of the USSR in 1941, the CPA supported the Australian war effort, but the Trotskyists did not. In 1941, the Communist League was banned by the Australian government because of its anti-war stance. In 1942, Origlass started publishing a newspaper called ''The Socialist'' to propagandise for Trotskyism. The struggle in the union culminated in 1945 when the leadership removed Origlass from his position as a shop steward. The Balmain waterfront responded by going on strike against the union, and Origlass was re-instated. Short and McClelland left the Trotskyist movement soon afterwards, becoming prominent figures 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 became national secretary of the union in 1951, defeating the CPA's Ernie Thornton after a bitter legal battle. Meanwhile, Origlass formed the Labor Socialist Group to pursue an

entrist Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, infiltration, a French Turn, boring from within, or boring-from-within) is a political strategy in which an organization or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organiz ...

strategy inside the ALP. In 1952, he ceased publication of ''The Socialist'' so he would be allowed to join the party. In 1958 he was elected to Leichhardt Council for the ALP. A decade later he was expelled from the ALP but re-elected to the council on an "Independent Labor" ticket. He served as mayor of Leichhardt Council in 1971–1972. When he retired from council in 1995, he had had only a four-year break in 1980–1984 in over 30 years as an alderman.

Death

Origlass suffered from cancer for a year before he died in Balmain on 17 May 1996. He was 88. He left his wife Joan and son, Peter.

References

*Greenland, Hall. (1998). ''Red hot: The life & times of Nick Origlass, 1908–1996'', Wellington Lane Press. , 9780908022144 *Freney, Denis (1991). ''A Map of Days, life on the left.'' William Heinemann, Australia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Origlass, Nick Australian Trotskyists Australian labour movement 1996 deaths 1908 births Mayors of Leichhardt