Henry Bernard "Barney" French (7 August 1922 – 10 January 2005) was an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

from 1973 to 1991. French was born in Camden,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and served in the merchant navy from 1938 to 1945. In 1953 he became Assistant Secretary of the New South Wales Branch of the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

, and became Federal President in 1970, serving until 1980. He was married to Pat, with whom he had four children. An active member of the Labor Party in the federal electorate of Blaxland and the state seat of

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

, he was Vice-President of the ALP for ten years. In 1973 he was elected as a Labor member to the

. He was Government Whip from 1984 to 1988 and Opposition Whip from 1988 to 1989. He retired in 1991. In 1985 French was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for " service to the trade union movement ". He received the Centenary Medal in 2001. French died in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 2005.

References

1922 births 2005 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Members of the Order of Australia Australian Merchant Navy {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub