Leslie William Galvin (30 April 1903 – 1 July 1966) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of 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 presidin ...

for Bendigo from 1945 to 1955 when he was defeated at the state election, then regained the seat in 1958 until 1964. Galvin was born in the Sydney suburb of

Woollahra Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woolla ...

, and was educated at Petersham Commercial School until his family moved to Melbourne, where he continued his education at Scotch College. He became involved in the trade union movement while apprenticed as a

fitter and turner A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

with the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

in Bendigo, and served on the local Trades Hall councils and branches of the Australian Railways Union.Galvin, (Leslie) William
''Re-member'' (Parliament of Victoria). In 1939, Galvin was elected to the Bendigo City Council, and was Mayor of Bendigo from 1944 to 1945. He then considered a tilt at federal politics, but was convinced by his friend, John Cain, to nominate for the 1945 Bendigo state by-election triggered by the death of Arthur Cook. Duly elected, Galvin was made President of the Board of Land and Works, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey and Minister for Water Supply in the Second Cain Ministry after Labor won the 1945 election. Following the defeat of the Cain government in 1947, Galvin was voted deputy leader of the Labor Party in Victoria.Fahey, Charles
'Galvin, Leslie William (Bill) (1903–1966)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 10 May 2012. When Labor re-gained power in 1952, Galvin became Chief Secretary and

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

. He was acting Premier in 1953, while Cain attended the

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

. During the

Australian Labor Party split of 1955 The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt and B. A. ...

, Galvin remained loyal to Cain and the traditional party, although his support wavered to Bill Barry when he heard that Cain preferred Ernie Shepherd to be deputy leader. At the 1955 election, Galvin was defeated in Bendigo by the Liberal and Country candidate,

John Stanistreet John Stanistreet (7 April 1913 – 30 October 1971) was an Australian politician. He was born in Bendigo to legal manager John Jepson Stanistreet and Maud McIlroy. He attended Bendigo High School and Dookie Agricultural College, and in 1929 ...

, by just twelve votes. His defeat removed him from the running to lead the party, and Shepherd was elected leader when Cain died in 1957. Although Galvin regained Bendigo in 1958, he was once again denied the leadership when he was injured a car accident days before the leadership ballot, which saw

Clive Stoneham Clive Philip Stoneham, OBE (12 April 1909 – 3 July 1992) was an Australian politician. He was an ALP member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for over 27 years from November 1942 to April 1970, representing the electorates of Maryborou ...

voted leader. Galvin retired from parliament in 1964 due to ill health. He died two years later in Bendigo, suffering from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue rep ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galvin, Bill 1903 births 1966 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Mayors of places in Victoria (Australia) Victoria (Australia) local councillors Australian trade unionists Australian people in rail transport People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Deaths from cirrhosis Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Politicians from Sydney 20th-century Australian politicians Alcohol-related deaths in Australia