Ernest Charles O'Dea (19 February 1889 – 21 November 1976) was an Australian trade union official, Labor Party politician,

Lord Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

and Member of the New South Wales Parliament.

Early life

O'Dea was born in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

in 1889 and moved to Sydney with his family as a child.

Career

O'Dea entered the retail trade and moved rapidly through the trade union ranks whilst in his twenties. He served as a Sydney Municipal Council Alderman for two periods (1924–1927 and 1930–1965) and was elected Lord Mayor of Sydney in 1948 for four years. He served two twelve-year terms in 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 ...

between 1942 and 1967. He was also a member of Sydney County Council between 1935 and 1959 and its Chairman from 1958 to 1959.Ernest Charles O'Dea.
Parliament Papers, NSW State Parliament. He was an advocate of compulsory unionism and equal pay, and was an opponent of Saturday retail trading and late-night shopping, all major issues in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a vehement anti-communist and fought against communist influence in trade unions and other industrial organisations.

Later life

O'Dea died in 1976 at St George Hospital in Sydney, after suffering a cerebral aneurysm in 1966. He was survived by a son from his first marriage and a son and stepdaughter of his second marriage.

Legacy

O'Dea is remembered by ''O'Dea Avenue'' in Zetland O'Dea, Ernest Charles
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. Accessed 2 August 2008. and ''O'Dea Park'' in Camperdown.

References

Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney 1889 births 1976 deaths Australian Labor Party mayors Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Councillors of Sydney County Council {{Australia-mayor-stub