Laurie John Ferguson (4 September 1924 – 17 September 2002) was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

.

Early life

Ferguson was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Zetland

Zetland, New South Wales

Zetland is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Zetland is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney....

 and was educated at Granville

Granville, New South Wales

Granville, is a suburb in western Sydney, Australia. Granville is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. A small part in the north-west is located in the Local Government Area of the City of Holroyd.South Granville is a...

 Convent and Marist Brothers, Parramatta

Parramatta, New South Wales

Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...

. He worked as a farmhand, textile worker, builder's labourer and bricklayer and was an organiser for the Building Workers Industrial Union. He served in the Second Australian Imperial Force

Second Australian Imperial Force

The Second Australian Imperial Force was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the Defence Act , neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to...

 from 1942 to 1946. He was an alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 on Parramatta Council

City of Parramatta

The City of Parramatta is a Local Government Area in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.Initially in 1861 it was formed as Municipality of Parramatta...

 from 1954 to 1959, and Deputy Mayor in 1959. He married Mary Ellen Bett and they had three sons (Laurie Ferguson

Laurie Ferguson

Laurie Donald Thomas Ferguson , Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1990, representing Reid until 2010 and Werriwa thereafter, both in New South Wales. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and grew up in the...

, Martin Ferguson

Martin Ferguson

Martin John Ferguson AM , Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Batman, Victoria. He was born in Sydney, the son of Jack Ferguson, who was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 1976...

 and Andrew Ferguson) and two daughters.

Political career

Ferguson was the member for Merrylands

Electoral district of Merrylands

Merrylands was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, named after and including the Sydney suburb of Merrylands. It was first created in 1959 and abolished in 1962. It was recreated in 1968 and abolished in 1988.-Members for...

 from March 1959 to 1962 and 1968 to 5 March 1984. From 1962 to 1968, he was member for Fairfield

Electoral district of Fairfield

Fairfield is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's West. Fairfield has historically been one of the safest Labor seats in New South Wales and is considered a part of Labor's heartland in Western Sydney...

. A member of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

's left wing, he was best known as Deputy Premier

Deputy Premier of New South Wales

The Deputy Premier of New South Wales is the second-most senior officer in the Government of New South Wales. The Deputy Premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1932, and the Deputy Premier is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier....

 and Minister for Public Works and Minister for Ports, from May 1976 until February 1984, in the cabinet headed by Neville Wran

Neville Wran

Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...

. He was also Minister for Housing from May 1976 to February 1977.

Ferguson died in Sydney.