George Paciullo, OAM (; 20 February 19349 October 2012) was an Australian politician. He was the

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 for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1971 to 1989, and served as a minister from 1984 to 1988. Paciullo 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 market gardener Sisto Paciullo and his wife Immacolata, who had come to Australia from

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He attended public schools at

and

Homebush Homebush 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, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Municipali ...

, and was employed as a survey draftsmen with the New South Wales Soil Conservation Service upon his graduation in 1951. He underwent

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in 1952 and subsequently served in the

Citizen Military Forces The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

for three years. In 1958, he joined the Labor Party, and the following year was elected to

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

. On 3 November 1964, he married Janette Blinman, with whom he had a son named Murray. He continued as both a draftsman and a councillor until 1971. In 1971, the member for the local state seat of

Jack Mannix Norman John Mannix (16 August 1920 – 17 June 1994) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1952 until 1971 . He was a member of the Labor Party and held the position of Justice Minister (in ...

, retired, and Paciullo was preselected as the replacement Labor candidate. He was elected easily, and was never troubled in his own electorate. In 1973 he became Shadow Minister for Sport, Recreation and Tourism. When Labor, under

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

, won government in 1976, Paciullo was appointed Minister for Roads, moving to Industry and Small Business from February to April 1984 and then to Consumer Affairs and Aboriginal Affairs. In 1986, when Wran resigned and

Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is a former Australian politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Early years Unswo ...

succeeded him in the Premiership, Paciullo became Police and Emergency Services Minister. After Labor suffered a landslide defeat by the

Nick Greiner Nicholas Frank Hugo Greiner (;) (born 27 April 1947) is an Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. Greiner was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 an ...

-led

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

in 1988, Unsworth retired as

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

. Paciullo was a candidate for the leadership position, but lost out to

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...

. Shortly afterwards Paciullo resigned from parliament; the by-election held to replace him was acrimonious, as the former member for Penrith,

Peter Anderson Peter Anderson may refer to: Sportspeople *Peter Anderson (cricketer, born 1933) Peter Anderson (born 4 October 1933) is an Australian cricketer. He played eight first-class matches for New South Wales in 1966/67. See also * List of New Sou ...

, was chosen as candidate after a protracted preselection dispute between the Left's Paul Lynch and the Right's

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...

. After 1988 Paciullo returned to local politics, serving again on Liverpool City Council as mayor from 1994 to 2003. On 14 June 1999 he was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

. He was appointed to the board of the

NRMA NRMA (formerly National Roads and Motorists' Association) is an Australian organisation offering roadside assistance, advocacy for motorists and road-users, motoring advice, car servicing, International Driving Permits, travel and other services ...

in 2000. On 26 May 2002 he was made a life member of the Labor Party. Paciullo died at

Liverpool Hospital Liverpool Hospital is located in the South Western Sydney suburb of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia and is a 50-minute drive from the Sydney CBD. It is the second largest hospital in New South Wales (behind Westmead Hospital) and one of th ...

in Sydney on 9 October 2012, aged 78, of complications related to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paciullo, George 1934 births 2012 deaths Australian Labor Party mayors Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Mayors of places in New South Wales Australian politicians of Italian descent Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales