Laurence Elwyn "Laurie" Short, AO, OBE (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, now part of the Australian Workers Union, from 1951 to 1982.[1]
Short was seen as playing a key role in preventing the New South Wales branch of the ALP from splitting along sectarian lines in the 1950s.[1] He at first supported the idea of communism in Australia, but then rejected communism and then was an important anti-communist union leader. The Age Short, and Thornton contested the 1949 FIA elections, Thornton won but later this election was ruled rigged and Short declared the winner.[2]
He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1971 and this was followed in 1980 by his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).[3][4]
He married artist Nancy Borlase in 1941 and was father to journalist Susanna Short.[1][5]