John James McNeill (1868 – 14 June 1943) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was a member 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 ...

(ALP) and served two terms in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

(1922–1925, 1929–1931), representing the

Division of Wannon The Division of Wannon is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. History The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first Federal election. The division was named ...

in Victoria. He was

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

and Minister for Repatriation from 1931 to 1932, holding office in the government of his brother-in-law

James Scullin James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 Australian federal election. He was the first Catho ...

Early life

McNeill was born in

Tantanoola, South Australia Tantanoola is a town in regional South Australia. The name is derived from the aboriginal word ''tentunola'', which means ''boxwood / brushwood hill or camp''. ''Tantanoola'' was originally named 'Lucieton' by William Jervois, Governor Jervois a ...

. After achieving a primary school education, McNeill worked as a shearer and then became a

selector Selector may refer to: *Selector, electrical or mechanical component, a switch *''Selector'', music scheduling software for radio stations created by Radio Computing Services *Selector, of music, otherwise known as a disc jockey *Selector, a pers ...

at Woosang. He sold his farm to prospect for gold during the

Coolgardie, Western Australia Coolgardie is a small town in Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 850 people. Although Coolgardie is now known to most Western Australians as a tourist town and a mining ghost town, it wa ...

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

and then returned to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to farm at Macarthur before becoming 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 exerci ...

(AWU) in western Victoria and the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

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 ...

. He married Mary Ann Mills in 1896, but she died in 1905. McNeill contested the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

seat of Glenelg for

in 1906. In 1908 he tried to farm in

Roma, Queensland Roma is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Maranoa Region. The town was incorporated in 1867 and is named after Lady Diamantina Bowen (née di Roma), the wife of Sir Geo ...

and then became an AWU organiser in

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

. From 1913 to 1922 he was secretary of the Victoria-Riverina branch of the AWU. In 1915, he married

's sister, Catherine.

Federal Parliament

McNeill narrowly won the seat of Wannon in the

in 1922 but was beaten in 1925. He won it back in 1929. On 2 March 1931, dissatisfaction with the economic performance of the

Scullin government Scullin may refer to: In places: * Scullin, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Division of Scullin, an electorate in the Australian House of Representatives People with the surname Scullin: * James Scullin (1876–1953), Prime Mi ...

and internal rivalries within the Labor Caucus resulted in the Caucus declaring all ministerial positions vacant and subsequently a new ministry was elected. McNeill was elected to cabinet and was allocated the portfolios of

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and

Repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

. He kept these positions until the Scullin government resigned on 6 January 1932. He lost his parliamentary seat at the December 1931 general election.

Later life

McNeill was the General President of the Australian Workers' Union from 1939 until his death in the Sydney suburb of Coogee of a

coronary occlusion A coronary occlusion is the partial or complete obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition may cause a heart attack. In some patients coronary occlusion causes only mild pain, tightness or vague discomfort which may be ignored ...

. He was survived by his wife and their two sons, and his two sons and a daughter of his first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, John Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wannon Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian trade unionists 1868 births 1943 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Ministers for Health