Ron Mulock
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Ronald Joseph Mulock AO
KCSG KCSG (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Cedar City, Utah, United States, airing programming from the classic television network MeTV. Owned and operated by network parent Weigel Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on West 1 ...
(11 January 1930 – 4 September 2014) was an Australian politician. A former
City of Penrith A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
mayor, he was an
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 ...
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 ...
from 1971 to 1988. He was
Deputy Premier of New South Wales The deputy premier of New South Wales is the second-most senior officer in the Government of New South Wales. The deputy premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1932, and the deputy premier is appointed by the governor on the advice o ...
under
Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman o ...
and
Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is an Australian former politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Since the death o ...
from 1984 to 1988.


Early years

Ron Mulock was born in the
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 ...
suburb of
Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...
on 11 January 1930 and baptised a Catholic. His surname at birth was Moore but he was fostered at ten months to Elizabeth Mulock (née Goode). She adopted Ron when he was 14. He was educated at St Declan's in Penshurst and De La Salle College (now Casimir Catholic College),
Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...
. Mulock was an outstanding sportsman at school and subsequently played first grade cricket between 1949 and 1962 for the St George, Waverley and Cumberland Clubs. In the 1959–60 season he was the highest wicket-taker (49) in the Sydney First Grade Competition. At his peak, Mulock was said to be one of the best fast bowlers outside the Test team. He was a foundation member and later Patron of the Penrith Panthers Rugby League team. Mulock studied law part-time and received an LL.B from the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
in 1957. He was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court on 2 September 1955 and started his own practice in Penrith on Sydney's western outskirts. By the time Mulock went into Parliament in 1971, his firm employed 20 people. He was an alderman on
Penrith City Council Penrith may refer to: Australia *Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean R ...
for six years, and served as Mayor from 1968 to 1971. Mulock was initially elected as an independent but joined the ALP in 1968.


Political career

As a state parliamentarian, Mulock represented Nepean from 1971 to 1973, Penrith from 1973 to 1981 and St Marys from 1981 until his retirement at the 1988 election. After the 1973 election, Mulock became Shadow Attorney-General and Justice Minister. When the Wran government achieved power in May 1976 (ending the Labor Party's 11-year period in opposition), Mulock became Minister of Justice (until October 1978) and Minister for Services (until February 1977). He was also Minister for Housing from February 1977 to October 1978, Minister for Mineral Resources and Development from October 1978 to February 1980 and Minister for Mineral Resources and Technology from February 1980 to October 1981. Mulock served as Minister for Education from October 1981 to February 1984. A champion of increased resources for Sydney's west, Mulock expanded Milperra College of Advanced Education into the
Macarthur Institute of Higher Education Macarthur Institute of Higher Education was an Australian tertiary education institution (College of Advanced Education) from 1974 to 1989. It was known as the Milperra College of Advanced Education until 1983. Milperra College of Advanced Educati ...
and worked for the establishment of a university in western Sydney. On 20 March 1987, Mulock and Premier
Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is an Australian former politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Since the death o ...
(who had taken over from Wran the previous year) concluded a Commonwealth/State agreement that resulted in the establishment of the
University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university in its current form was founde ...
in 1989. On 10 February 1984, Mulock's strong performance and personal popularity led to him becoming Deputy Premier after the retirement of
Jack Ferguson Laurie John Ferguson (4 September 1924 – 17 September 2002) was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch). He served in Neville Wran's state gover ...
. He was opposed by both major ALP factions and Wran, his chief rivals for the job having been the left-wing Frank Walker and the right-wing
Terry Sheahan Terence William "Terry" Sheahan, (born 18 August 1947) is an Australian judge and former politician. He was the Labor member for Burrinjuck in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1988, and held various ministerial portfolios ...
. On the first ballot, Walker polled 32 votes, Mulock 20, and Sheahan 17. When Sheahan was eliminated from the contest, all but one of his preferences flowed to Mulock who was victorious by 36 votes to 33. Mulock was Minister for Health from February 1984 to 1986. It was the most demanding period in his 12-year Ministerial career. During most of his tenure he dealt with a bitter dispute with the medical profession. Mulock was Minister for Transport from February 1986 to November 1987. With Education and Health, Transport was one of the top three recurrent spending portfolios. He held all three in succession, the only NSW Minister since Federation to have done so. Mulock served as Attorney-General from November 1987 until the defeat of the Unsworth government in March 1988.


After politics

In 1988, Mulock was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of his services to the NSW Parliament. After leaving politics, he was involved in commercial consultancy and legal mediation. Mulock was appointed to the Greiner Government's Electricity Transmission Planning Committee in 1991 and chaired the Penrith Lakes Committee from 1996 to 2001. He was involved with sporting, education welfare and disability advocacy groups. In 2013, Pope Francis appointed Ron a Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great ‘for dedication to the faith and service to the community’. Ron Mulock died on 4 September 2014 at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife (since 11 May 1957) Desley, two sons, a daughter and nine grandchildren. Two sons predeceased him.Former Deputy Premier, Penrith Panthers club patron and life member Ron Mulock has died
''The Daily Telegraph'', 5 September 2014.
Mulock is interred at Pine Grove Memorial Park.


References


Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulock, Ronald Joseph 1930 births 2014 deaths Deputy premiers of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party mayors Mayors of Penrith, New South Wales New South Wales local councillors Officers of the Order of Australia Knights Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great Australian Roman Catholics Sydney Law School alumni Australian solicitors Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Attorneys-general of New South Wales Ministers for justice (New South Wales) Ministers for customer service and digital government Ministers for education (New South Wales) Ministers for health (New South Wales)