Frank Condon (politician)

Francis Joseph "Frank" Condon (3 Dec 1884 – 15 July 1961) was a trade unionist and Labor politician in South Australia.

History

Frank was born, perhaps in Burra, a son of William Alfred Condon (23 May 1860 – 18 March 1932), who married Catherine Tobin (24 May 1860 – ) at Kooringa, near Burra, on 15 October 1881.[1] Frank had five brothers and one sister; all grew up in Hallam Street, Port Pirie.[2]

He was working as a "needleman", sewing bags of flour in Port Pirie for John Dunn[3] around 1906 when he was persuaded to move to Adelaide and organise a union for workers in the flour mills.[4]

He was in 1910 the South Australian representative at a Federal conference which established the Federated Millers and Mill Employes Union,[5] and was that body's South Australian Secretary from 1910 to at least 1928. He was elected Federal president of the Federated Millers and Mill Employes Association around 1930, and still held that position in 1951. In 1911 he was elected president of the Port Adelaide Trades and Labour Council. During the First World War he served on the Prices Regulation Commission, work for which he received much praise.[4]

Politics

He was elected auditor for the Port Adelaide Council in 1914, then councillor for East Ward in 1920.

He was elected to the seat of Port Adelaide in the House of Assembly in 1924 and was defeated by Thomas Turner Thompson at the following election, who accused Condon of libeling him.[6] He succeeded in a bid for the Legislative Council in 1928 and held the seat until 1961. He served on the public Works Standing Committee, which oversaw the construction Morgan-Whyalla pipeline, Mount Bold Reservoir, Anzac Highway, Birkenhead Bridge, Port Adelaide and Glenelg sewage treatment works, the operating theatre complex at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Uley-Wanilla Basin scheme to supply water to Port Lincoln, and Adelaide Boys' High School on West Terrace. In 1926 he was chairman of the Manufacturing and Secondary Industries Royal Commission. He was Leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council.[4]

Interests

Frank was a keen racegoer and supporter of thoroughbred racing.[7]

Recognition

Condon was personally invested with the CMG by the Queen in 1954.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Golden Wedding". The Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: National Library of Australia). 22 October 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Mr. W. A. Condon Dead". The Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: National Library of Australia). 19 March 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Wizards of the Needle". The Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: National Library of Australia). 11 January 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "South Australian profile No. 89 He Has Worked For Working Men". The News (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 9 January 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Flourmill Employes". The Register (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 11 May 1910. p. 8. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Port Adelaide Seat". The Register (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 14 May 1927. p. 13. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Congratulated on his CMG.". The News (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 1 January 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Government House Investiture: Many Honored.". The Advertiser (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 25 March 1954. p. 7. Retrieved 17 November 2014.