George Mason Burns (19 April 1869 – 15 August 1932) was an Australian politician. He was an

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 ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

from 1913 to 1917, representing the electorate of

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

. He had previously been a member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

from 1903 to 1906.

Early life

Burns was born at Mogo on the South Coast of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and was working in mines at thirteen. He joined the Illawarra Miners' Union in 1889 and became the delegate for the South Bull Miners' Lodge. He was heavily involved in advocating for the passage of the ''Coal Mines Regulation Act 1902'' in New South Wales, and was blacklisted by mine owners following its passage, so moved to Tasmania that year.

Politics

He was elected to the

at the 1903 state election, and was re-elected at the 1906 election, but resigned in November that year to contest the 1906 federal election in Denison, in which he was unsuccessful. In 1907, he went to

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 , establishe ...

to work as secretary and organiser of the

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits unde ...

branch of the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exer ...

. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the

seat of

at the 1913 federal election, having unsuccessfully contested the same seat in 1910. He was re-elected at the 1914 election, and was one of the earliest parliamentary opponents of conscription during World War I, but was defeated at the 1917 election. Burns again unsuccessfully contested the seat of

in the 1919 federal election, standing for the breakaway

Industrial Socialist Labor Party The Industrial Socialist Labor Party, Industrial Labor Party and the Independent Labor Party were short lived socialist political parties in Australia in 1919 and the early 1920s. The Industrial Socialist Labor Party was founded by radical soci ...

. Returning to the Labor Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for St George at the 1925 New South Wales state election.

Personal life

He died at his home at Cremorne in 1932 and was cremated. He had married well-known Labor women's organiser Lilian Locke in 1906.

Notes

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Illawarra Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1869 births 1932 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub