Kevin Dwyer was an Australian politician and a 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...

 for 7 months in 1949-50. He was 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...

.

Early life

Dwyer was born in Goondiwindi, Queensland

Goondiwindi, Queensland

Goondiwindi is an Australian town of approximately 5,629 people. The town has an annual population growth of 1.4 percent. The name Goondiwindi derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "the resting place of the birds".-History:...

 and was the son of a timberworker. He was educated at Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham

Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham

Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham , is a Roman Catholic, day school for boys, located in Lewisham, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 and in an example of nominative determinism

Nominative determinism

Nominative determinism is a comparatively recent term for the theory that a person's name can have a significant role in determining key aspects of job, profession or even character...

 became a dyer. Dwyer was elected as an alderman of Alexandria Municipal Council

Alexandria, New South Wales

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

 in 1947 and was its last mayor, prior to its integration into the City of Sydney

City of Sydney

The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...

 in 1948. He continued as an alderman of the city of Sydney between 1948 and 1959 and was the Deputy Lord Mayor in 1958. Following his retirement from parliament he started a second hand timber yard and was a clerk with the Sydney County Council

Sydney County Council

The Sydney County Council was the authority responsible for electricity supplies in Sydney, Australia. The entity was created in 1936, and was elected and controlled by the municipal councils of Sydney. Between 1936 and 1952, it was responsible for electricity generation and distribution...

, the electricity supply authority for Sydney. He was a cousin of Rex Connor

Rex Connor

Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor , Australian politician, was a minister in the Whitlam government and promoted government investment to support national development...

, a former member of the Legislative Assembly and a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

.

State Parliament

Dwyer was elected to parliament as the Labor member for Redfern

Electoral district of Redfern

Redfern was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1880, and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Redfern...

 at the October 1949 by-election caused by the death of the incumbent Labor member George Noble

George Noble

George Noble was an Australian plumber, gasfitter, politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 1 term from 1947 to 1949. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party.-Early life:...

. His only opponent was Merv Pidcock of the Communist Party of Australia

Communist Party of Australia

The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...

 and he won 91.2% of the vote. However, he lost the Labor pre-selection ballot for the 1950

New South Wales state election, 1950

The 1950 New South Wales State state election was held on 17 June 1950. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1949 redistribution...

 state election to Fred Green

Fred Green (Australian politician)

Frederick Green was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1950 until 1968. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party ....

and he subsequently retired from state politics when that election was held in May 1950.. He did not hold party, parliamentary or ministerial office.