Patrick Joseph Minahan, (27 March 1866 – 3 October 1933) was an

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-born

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. He was born at

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to bootmaker Patrick Minahan and Mary, ''née'' Murphy. He arrived in

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around 1883 and by 1888 had established a boot manufacturing business. In 1900 he married Catherine Kinsela, with whom he had five children; she died in 1914. In 1915 he remarried with Elizabeth Mary Ward in Dublin, and returned to Sydney. The couple had a further two children. He became involved in the Labor Party and was a member of the central executive from 1907 to 1913, serving as vice-president in 1909 and president in 1910. He was elected to 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 ...

as the member for Belmore at the

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. Labor split in 1917 over the conscription issue, with Premier

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...

leading many members into the new Nationalist Party, a merger of the pro-conscriptionist Labor members and the

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. Minahan stayed with the Labor party but he lost preselection for Belmore. Instead he unsuccessfully stood against Holman for Cootamundra.

Proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

was introduced in NSW for the 1920 election and Minahan was nominated by the Labor Party for the five member seat of Sydney. Shortly before polling day however, he and Scott Campbell had their endorsement withdrawn because they signed a pledge for the unconditional release of twelve imprisoned members of the Industrial Workers of the World. Minahan was elected third, and sat as an independent until October 1920 when he was re-admitted to the caucus. He was re-elected fifth at the 1922 election, Defeated in

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, he returned some months later after to fill the vacancy caused by John Birt's death. He quit the Labour Party in 1927, stating that this was because "the Communists have captured the Labor Movement in our State". Minahan stood against Premier Jack Lang as an Independent Labor candidate for Auburn, but was defeated. Minahan was appointed a Knight of St. Sylvester by the

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in 1920. He died at

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on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minahan, Patrick 1866 births 1933 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Knights of the Order of St. Sylvester Politicians from Sydney Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales

See also

References