Patrick Joseph Minahan, (27 March 1866 – 3 October 1933) was an Irish-born

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was born at

Killaloe, County Clare Killaloe ( ; ) is a small town in east County Clare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the River Shannon on the western bank of Lough Derg (Shannon), Lough Derg and is connected by Killaloe Bridge to the "twin town" of Ballina, County ...

to bootmaker Patrick Minahan and Mary, ''née'' Murphy. He arrived in

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 ...

around 1883 and by 1888 had established a boot manufacturing business. In 1900, he married Catherine Kinsela, with whom he had five children; she died in 1914. In 1915, he remarried with Elizabeth Mary Ward in Dublin, and returned to Sydney. The couple had a further two children. He became involved in the Labor Party and was a member of the central executive from 1907 to 1913, serving as vice-president in 1909 and president in 1910. He was elected to 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 ...

as the member for Belmore at the 1910 by-election. Labor split in 1917 over the

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

issue, with Premier

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...

leading many members into the new Nationalist Party, a merger of the pro-conscriptionist Labor members and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. Minahan stayed with the Labor party but he lost preselection for Belmore. Instead he unsuccessfully stood against Holman for

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

Proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

was introduced in NSW for the 1920 election and Minahan was nominated by the Labor Party for the five member seat of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Shortly before polling day however, he and Scott Campbell had their endorsement withdrawn because they signed a pledge for the unconditional release of twelve imprisoned members of the Industrial Workers of the World. Minahan was elected third, and sat as an independent until October 1920 when he was re-admitted to the caucus. He was re-elected fifth at the 1922 election, Defeated in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

, he returned some months later after to fill the vacancy caused by

John Birt John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC. After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television and ...

's death. He quit the Labour Party in 1927, stating that this was because "the Communists have captured the Labor Movement in our State". Minahan stood against Premier Jack Lang as an Independent Labor candidate for Auburn, but was defeated. Minahan was appointed a Knight of St. Sylvester by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

in 1920. He died at

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minahan, Patrick 1866 births 1933 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Knights of the Order of St. Sylvester Politicians from Sydney Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales

See also

References