William Joseph Power (3 January 1893 – 29 May 1974) was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former electoral div ...

and an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

in the Brisbane City Council.

Early years

Power was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

to Richard and Margaret Power (née Young) in 1893. He did his schooling in Petrie Terrace and worked as a tramwayman. Power became a leading trade union official before deciding to enter state politics.

State political career

Representing the Labor Party, Power won the new seat of

Baroona Singleton is a town on the banks of the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. Singleton is 197 km (89 mi) north-north-west of Sydney, and 70 km (43 mi) north-west of Newcastle. At June 2018, Singleton had an urban po ...

in Labor's landslide win in the Queensland state election of 1935, convincingly defeating J.E. Streeter of the Douglas Credit Party. When campaigning, he used the slogan "Power for the People". He served as Secretary for Public Works, Housing and Local Government from 1947 to 1950, Secretary for Mines and Immigration from 1950 till 1952, and Attorney-General from 1952 till Labor's defeat from government in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

. Power sided with Premier

Vince Gair Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 190111 November 1980) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Labor Party. He was e ...

after Gair had been expelled by the ALP executive in 1957 and standing for the Queensland Labor Party, he held his seat. He did not seek re-election in 1960 and retired from politics.

Personal life

Power married Alice Gertrude Cain (died 1977) in 1918 and together they had four sons. He was an avid

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

supporter, and also interested in Game fowl and dogs. He died in 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power, William 1893 births 1974 deaths Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Attorneys-General of Queensland People from Brisbane 20th-century Australian politicians