Alfred Joseph Blackwell (9 April 1876 – 16 October 1955) was an Australian politician who represented the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

multi-member An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

seat of West Torrens from 1918 to 1938 for the Labor Party, excluding the 1931–34 Labor split, when he sat with the splinter

Parliamentary Labor Party The Parliamentary Labor Party (also known as the Premiers' Plan Labor Party or Ministerial Labor Party) was a political party active in South Australia from August 1931 until June 1934. The party came into existence as a result of intense dispu ...

. Blackwell was a butcher by trade. He became the assistant secretary and organiser of the state branch of the

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (also known as the Meatworkers Union) is an Australian trade union representing workers in the meat industry including in abattoirs, butchers, and smallgoods manufacturers. Structure The AMIEU h ...

in 1910, and its state general secretary in 1916. He also served as vice-president of the union's federal council, and as its delegate to the

United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia SA Unions (originally the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia) is the peak body for trade unions in South Australia. It coordinates political, social, economic, and industrial campaigns between its affiliate members and implements ...

. He served as a councillor and an alderman of the Town of Thebarton, and was mayor of Thebarton in 1918 and 1919. He later served as state president of the

Australian Railways Union The Australian Railways Union (ARU) was an Australian trade union in existence from 1920 to 1993. The ARU was an industrial union, representing all types of workers employed in the rail industry, excluding locomotive enginedrivers and tradesme ...

for over a decade until 1931. He was elected to the House of Assembly at the 1918 election. He was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways from 1926 to 1927, and of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works from 1927 to 1938. He suffered a family tragedy in 1928 when two of his children were killed when their cart was hit by a train.

References

1876 births 1955 deaths Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia {{Australia-Labor-politician-stub