William Henry Hartley (26 October 1930 – 18 February 2006) was an Australian political activist who was State Secretary of the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n branch of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

between 1965 and 1970. Hartley was born in

Southern Cross, Western Australia Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of state capital Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors in 1888, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shi ...

and before his involvement in left-wing politics, he was a Young Liberal and was active in the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

's Liberal Club. He also edited the student newspaper. Service in the RAAF in the early 1950s, combined with the Suez Crisis and the

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

in the Labor movement, radicalised Hartley and he joined the ALP in 1956. After this, he combined his journalism with his new politics, becoming co-editor of the ALP's WA newspaper, the ''Western Sun''. Hartley lost his position as State Secretary when formal intervention in the Victorian branch by the Federal ALP Executive led to the replacement of the Victorian Central Executive of the Party in October 1970. He remained a leading figure within the Victorian ALP's Socialist Left faction until his expulsion in 1986. He was a radio broadcaster from 1978 to 1995 on community radio 3CR with a left-wing programme called ''Par Avion''. He gained later public attention following his involvement with

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

and

David Combe Harvey David Mathew Combe (26 April 1943 – 21 September 2019) was National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), a political consultant and lobbyist, an Australian Trade Commissioner, a Senior Vice-President International of Southco ...

in attempts to raise large sums of money for the Labor Party from the Iraqi Ba'ath Party (later led by

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

) in 1975, and for his outspoken views on a variety of issues, particularly the Middle East conflict. Hartley died in

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

, Western Australia, aged 75.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Bill 1930 births 2006 deaths Australian activists Australian radio personalities People from Southern Cross, Western Australia