Rex Frederick Jackson (7 October 192831 December 2011) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of 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 ...

and subsequently imprisoned for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

Biography

Jackson was born in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, the son of a railway fettler. He was educated at

Harefield Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, northwest of Charing Cross near Greater London's boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north. The population at the 2011 Census was 7,399. Ha ...

Public School and

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

, and

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire ( ...

High Schools. He became a rail employee, professional boxer and printer. He married his wife, Irene, in 1949. Jackson was the member for Bulli from 1955 to 1971, and the member for

Heathcote Heathcote may refer to: Places in Australia *Heathcote, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney **Electoral district of Heathcote, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly ** Heathcote National Park ** Parish of Heathcote a parish of Cumberl ...

from 1971 to 1986, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for Youth and Community Services from May 1976 to October 1981 and then Minister for Corrective Services from October 1981 to October 1983. He was also Minister for Roads from February to October 1983. Jackson resigned his ministerial portfolios on 27 October 1983 and from parliament on 13 August 1986. He was charged with corruption and sent to trial in 1987. The District Court found that Jackson accepted a bribe of 12,000 in 1983 and that he conspired to organise the early release of three prisoners from

Broken Hill Correctional Centre Broken Hill Correctional Centre, formerly Broken Hill Gaol, is an Australian minimum and medium security prison for men and women located in Broken Hill, New South Wales, around from Sydney. Opened in 1892, it is the fourth-oldest prison stil ...

to meet gambling debts. He was initially sentenced to serve seven and a half years in custody (with three years without parole). However, in 1988

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differen ...

appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal against the leniency of the sentence. Jackson was subsequently sent to prison for ten years, with a non-parole period of five years, serving time at

Berrima Correctional Centre The Berrima Correctional Centre is an Australian prison, located at Berrima, New South Wales. The Centre was operational between 1839 and 2011 with a number of breaks in between, and was re-opened in September 2016. Initially established as Ber ...

. Following his early release from prison in November 1990, after serving three years and two months of his 10-year term, he returned to his

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local govern ...

home and was welcomed back by many in his community. For some years, Jackson operated an

ice cream van An ice cream van ( British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or nea ...

with business partner Col Alexander, called "Col and Rex's Hot Dogs and Ice Cream" which regularly parked at the top of Bald Hill, a popular hang-gliding spot in

Stanwell Tops Stanwell Tops is an exurban locality between the cities of Sydney and Wollongong on the New South Wales, Australia coastline. It lies northwest of Stanwell Park and southwest of Otford. Demography With a population of fewer than 500 resid ...

, south of Sydney. Jackson's wife Irene suffered from arthritis and diabetes, and had a stroke just six weeks after his homecoming. She was hospitalised and then placed in a nursing home, dying in early 1993. Jackson died on 31 December 2011, aged 83.

Minister for Youth and Community Services

From May 1976 to October 1981, Jackson held the post of Minister of Youth and Community Services (DoYCS). Under his tenure, the Department began funding youth refuges located in NSW, including

Caretakers Cottage Caretakers Cottage is an Australian non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Sydney assisting children and young adults facing homelessness. Caretakers Cottage is funded by the New South Wales Department of Family and Community Servi ...

, Young People's Refuge and Taldamunde Youth Services.Coffey, Michael
"What Ever Happened to the Revolution? Activism and the Early Days of Youth Refuges in NSW."
''Parity''. Volume 19, Issue 10. Another Country: Histories of Homelessness. Council to Homeless Persons. (2006): 23-25.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Rex 1928 births 2011 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly People from Wagga Wagga Australian politicians convicted of crimes Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales

Biography

Minister for Youth and Community Services

Further reading

References