John Francis McGrath (1 September 1893 – 20 December 1971) was an Australian politician and a member of 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 1941 until 1959. He was a member of the NSW Branch of the

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 the f ...

and held a number of ministerial positions including Minister for Housing.

Early life and career

McGrath was born in

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, the son of a publican and migrated with his family to Australia at age nine. He was educated at St Aloysius' College and initially worked as an electrician. He became an official of the Electrical Trades Union but left the industry to become a hotel owner. After owning several hotels, including losing one in Rockdale 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 ...

, McGrath leased the Bexley Hotel and became a proprietor of other hotels in the

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

area. McGrath was soon active in community organisations, becoming president of Bexley Chamber of Commerce from 1936 until 1970. McGrath was elected as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

on the Bexley Municipal Council at a by-election in 1937, and served until 1944. He was the deputy mayor for three terms in 1938–1941 and served as a Bexley delegate on the

St George County Council ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

Political career

McGrath was the defeated ALP candidate at the 1939 by-election for the seat of

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

which was won by

Clive Evatt Clive Raleigh Evatt (6 June 1900 – 15 September 1984) was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the Industri ...

of the

Industrial Labor Party The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a short-lived but influential political party active in New South Wales between 1936 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Labor Party (ALP) and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and Car ...

. He was eventually elected to the New South Wales parliament as the Labor member for new seat of Rockdale at the 1941 election. He retained the seat for the next five elections and retired at the 1959 election. In 1947, he was elected

Government Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

and served until his promotion to the cabinet in 1953. McGrath held ministerial positions in the government of

Joseph Cahill John Joseph Cahill (21 January 189122 October 1959), also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and Labor Party Premier of New South Wales from 1952 to his death in 1 ...

. He was a

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

in 1953, and was appointed the Minister for Housing in 1954 and the Secretary for Public Works from 1956 until his retirement. In this role he was responsible for the early construction work on the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, John 1893 births 1971 deaths People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians New South Wales local councillors Australian electricians Australian hoteliers Australian people of Irish descent American emigrants to Australia Burials at Waverley Cemetery