Edward John Kavanagh (30 October 1871 – 10 October 1956) was an Australian politician. He was born 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 ...

to publican William Kavanagh and Ellen Carty. He attended Marist Brothers' College before going to sea on a coastal trading vessel. He later worked as a tailor, and became involved in the Pressers' Union and through that with the Trades and Labor Council. On 31 December 1894 he married Agnes Jane Cousins, with whom he had six children. He was president of the Trades and Labor Council from 1905 to 1906. In 1912 he was appointed to 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 ...

as 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. He was active in the anti-

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

campaign in 1916 and was arrested during the 1917 general strike. From 1920 to 1922 he was

Vice-President of the Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executive ...

and Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council. He was also Minister for Labour from December 1921 to April 1922. From 1926 to 1931 he was deputy industrial commissioner. The Legislative Council was reformed in 1934, becoming indirectly elected. He stood as a candidate but was unsuccessful. He was an industrial advocate from 1931 to 1937. From 1937 to 1941 he was Apprenticeship and Conciliation Commissioner, and from 1941 to 1945 he was director of labour in the Commonwealth Ministry of Munitions. Kavanagh died at

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Edward 1871 births 1956 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council