John Dash (31 October 1882 – 1 January 1952) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

Biography

Dash was born in

Blackall Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Blackall had a population of 1,416 people. The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry ...

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 , established_ ...

, the son of John Dash Snr, a German migrant, and his Irish-born wife Margaret (née Mahoney) and was educated at Blackall State School. He began his working life as a stockman at the Fort Constantine station before going to Mount Elliott on the Cloncurry copper fields.Dash, John (1882–1952)
—

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 5 June 2016. Dash married Violet Alone (died 1967)Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 5 June 2016. in 1911 and together had a son and three daughters. He was seriously injured in a rail motor accident in September 1932 from which he never fully recovered. He later developed

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and after a prolonged illness died in Brisbane in January 1952. He was accorded a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

which proceeded from

St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane The Cathedral of St Stephen is the heritage-listed cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane and seat of its archbishop in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. St Stephen's was only meant to serve as a temporary seat for the arc ...

to the

Nudgee Cemetery Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium is a large Roman Catholic cemetery at 493 St Vincents Road, Nudgee, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery opened in 1867 and is still operating. Over 31,000 people are buried there. Services The cemetery ...

Public career

Dash became involved in the trade union movement while working the copper fields in the Cloncurry district. The north-western miners' unions merged in 1909 to form the Western Workers' Association of which Dash was its secretary. The next year the unions further merged to form the Amalgamated Workers' Association and Dash was the northern organizer for the union. In this role he was involved in several disputes including the 1911 sugar strike, the 1912 general strike, the Hampden lockout of 1913, the railway strike in 1917, and the Townsville meatworks strike in 1919. At the

1920 Queensland state election Elections were held in the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland on 9 October 1920 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Legislative Assembly. The Australian Labor Party (Queensl ...

he won the seat of Mundingburra for the Labor Party and represented the electorate for the next 24 years. He was made Minister for Transport in June 1932 but it was just three months later that he was seriously injured in the rail motor accident, something that he never fully recovered from and forced his resignation from the ministry in 1939. His worsening health, both physical and mental, plus the splitting of his political base over the Aid-to-Russia issue led to his defeat at the pre-selection ballot for the 1944 state election. During his seven years as the Minister for Transport, Dash introduced just three pieces of legislation to the parliament. In the 1930s, Dash dispensed political patronage to unionists and party members in his constituency by placing them in jobs on the northern railways which helped his re-election in 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dash, John Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1882 births 1952 deaths Burials at Nudgee Cemetery Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians People from Blackall, Queensland