James William Hickey (14 January 1878 – 8 April 1932) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1916 to 1928, representing Central Province. He was a minister in the first government of

Philip Collier Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Au ...

. Hickey was born in

Clunes, Victoria Clunes is a town in Victoria, Australia, 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, in the Shire of Hepburn. At the 2016 census it had a population of 1,728. History Pre-colonial The Djadja Wurrung people were the first inhabitants of the region ...

, to Annie Agnes (née Baker) and William Francis Hickey. He came to Western Australia to work on the Murchison goldfields. Hickey became an organiser for 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 ...

, eventually becoming vice-president of its

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

branch. He was also a director of the ''

Westralian Worker The ''Westralian Worker'' was a newspaper established in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia in 1900 and published until its demise in 1951 in Perth, Western Australia. History It was established as the ''Official organ of the Western Australian L ...

'', a labour journal. Hickey first ran for parliament at the 1914 Legislative Council elections, but lost to Henry Carson of the Country Party. He ran again in 1916 and was successful, defeating another Country candidate, William Patrick. He was re-elected in 1922. After Labor's victory at the 1924 state election, Hickey was made a minister without portfolio in the new Collier government. However, he was defeated by the Country Party's Edmund Hall at the 1928 election. He stood for the Legislative Assembly at the 1930 state election, but lost to Edward Angelo in the seat of Gascoyne. Hickey died in Perth in April 1932, aged 54. He had married Clarice Evelyn Page in 1911, with whom he had three children.James William Hickey
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 28 December 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, James 1878 births 1932 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Clunes, Victoria Trade unionists from Western Australia