Ernest Joseph "Dick" Riordan (21 September 1901 – 9 December 1954) was a

Miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

, Wharf labourer, and member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

Early years

Riordan was born at

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

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 parents William Riordan and his wife Mary (née Walsh) and was educated at state schools in both

Chillagoe Chillagoe is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Chillagoe had a population of 251 people. It was once a thriving mining town for a range of minerals, but is now reduced to a small z ...

and

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. When he left school he worked as a meatworker, miner, cane-cutter, and

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. He spent about eight years working on the wharves in Bowen, ending up as secretary of the

Waterside Workers' Federation The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered ...

Political career

Riordan first entered politics as an alderman on the

Town of Bowen A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

council. In March 1936, the member for the state seat of Bowen, Charles Collins, died and a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was held on the 20 June of that year. Riordan was nominated as the Labor Party candidate and went on to win the seat over John Smith of the Country Party. He held the seat for eight years before surprisingly losing to

Fred Paterson Frederick Woolnough Paterson (13 June 1897 – 7 October 1977) was an Australian politician, activist, unionist and lawyer. He is the only representative of the Communist Party of Australia to be elected to an Australian parliament. Early hist ...

of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

at the 1944 state election. After losing his seat, Riordan found work as a field officer for the State Employment Council and in 1947 he was the

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

to his nephew,

Bill Riordan William James Frederick Riordan CBE (8 February 1908 – 15 January 1973) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1936 to 1966, representing the Division ...

, who was the Minister for the Navy in the Second Chifley Ministry. At the 1950 state election, Riordan stood for the reincarnated seat of

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

, defeating the Country Party candidate, Mr G. H. Stuart by 297 votes. He held the seat unopposed in 1953, and remained the member until his death the next year. During his time in Parliament, Riordan was Temporary Chairman of Committees on four occasions between 1941 and 1952,

Government Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

from 17 December 1942 until 14 April 1944, and Secretary for Mines and Immigration from 10 March 1952 until his death.

Personal life

On 5 May 1930, Collins married Violet Alice Locke (died 1993), and together had ten daughters. Along with his Nephew, Bill Riordan, Ernest Riordan had two brothers who were also members of the Queensland Parliament.

Darby Riordan David "Darby" Riordan (23 July 1886 – 15 October 1936) was an Australian politician. Riordan was the Australian Labor Party member for Burke in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, winning the seat in 1918. He held Burke till 1929 at which ...

was the member for

Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with t ...

in the Federal Parliament and the state member for

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...

, while Jim Riordan was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

between 1917 and 1922. After suffering from illness for several months, Riordan was granted six months leave from Cabinet duties in November 1954 but died at his Ashgrove home less than a month later. He was accorded a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

which was held on 11 December 1954 at St. Stephen's Cathedral and proceeded to the

Lutwyche Cemetery Lutwyche Cemetery is a cemetery located at Kedron, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It opened in 1878 and saw its first burial in the same year. It is located at the corner of Gympie and Kitchener Roads, approximately ten kilometres north of B ...

.Riordan Ernest Joseph
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 19 April 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan, Ernest Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1901 births 1954 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Burials at Lutwyche Cemetery People from Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians