Thomas William Rasey (10 June 1898 – 27 April 1989) was an Australian

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 ...

from

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

Early life

Thomas Rasey served with the Australian army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918) after enlisting in Brisbane in September 1916. Serving in the 42nd Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd Division as a signaler of D Company, Rasey became a casualty of gas attacks at

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux borde ...

, France, in June 1918. From the front, he was transferred to hospitals in France and England before being repatriated to Australia in March 1919. An accomplished sportsman, Rasey played rugby league for Fortitude Valley Rugby League Club in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and became a well known figure in community and sports groups during the inter-war years. Despite working outside Brisbane as a cattleman, truck driver, and even on a merchant ship for sometime, he had a passion for his home city. He represented Brisbane twice as a footballer and served on Queensland National Fitness Council for 27 years. Actively involved in labour politics, Rasey was a member of the Transport Workers' Union of Queensland serving as both vice-president and President. File:T.W. Rasey The Queenslander 1917.jpg, T.W. Rasey, The Queenslander, 1917 File:Queensland State Archives 4270 Mr Rasey and Mr Whyte MsLA in front of a garatt locomotive 1950.png, Tom Rasey and Paddy Whyte, MLAs, in front of a Garatt locomotive, 1950

Politics

In 1943, Rasey was elected as an alderman on the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

. He was re-elected on two subsequent occasions (1946 and 1949) before make a transition to the state political sphere. As a member of the traditionalist arm of

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

trade union movement and as a committed

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, Rasey was associated with the staunchly anti-communist "

groupers Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

" during the late 1940s. The so-called "

" were members of the ALP Industrial Groups Committee who were given "a blank cheque in determining how the (Labor Party's) crusade against

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

would be fought" during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Rasey was elected as representative of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

on 29 April 1950). He represented the

until 26 April 1957, when he joined the breakaway

Queensland Labor Party The Queensland Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland) and commonly referred to as Queensland Labor or simply Labor, is the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of Queensland. It has ...

. However, he then lost his seat in the next election, held on 3 August 1957.Rasey, Mr Thomas William (Tom)
—

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...

. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

Later life

Rasey died in 1989 and is buried in

Nudgee Cemetery Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium is a large Roman Catholic cemetery at 493 St Vincents Road, Nudgee, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery opened in 1867 and is still operating. Over 31,000 people are buried there. Services The cemetery ...

.Nudgee Cemetery Mapping Interface
— Nudgee Cemetery Grave Location Search. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasey, Thomas 1898 births 1989 deaths Queensland Labor Party (1957–1978) members of the Parliament of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Place of birth missing Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians