Thomas William Dalton 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...

  from 1953 until 1956 and from 1959 until 1968. 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...

 (ALP).

Early life

Dalton was born in Wee Waa, New South Wales

Wee Waa, New South Wales

Wee Waa is a town with a population of 1,689 people located on the north-western slopes of the New England region in New South Wales, Australia. The town is within Narrabri Shire local government area and is on the Namoi River. Wee Waa is 41 m north-west of Narrabri and 571  km...

 and was the son of a teamster. Chris Dalton a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 between 1943 and 1970 was his brother. He was educated to elementary level in country schools and after working in numerous rural jobs he joined the construction division of the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

 in 1922. He was an official of the Australian Workers Union between 1935 and 1945.

State Parliament

Dalton was elected to parliament as the Labor member for Sutherland

Electoral district of Sutherland

Sutherland was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1950 to 1971 before it was abolished. The seat was reformed in 1988 until 1999...

 at the 1953

New South Wales state election, 1953

The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

 state election. He defeated the incumbent Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 member Cecil Monro

Cecil Monro

Mr Cecil Owen James Monro was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1932 and 1941 and 1950-53. He was a member of the United Australia Party and the Liberal Party of Australia....

 in an election in which Labor made significant gains in marginal seats. At the next election, in 1956

New South Wales state election, 1956

The 1956 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1956. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

, Labor's vote dropped because of divisions within the federal Labor Party and the formation of the DLP

Democratic Labor Party (historical)

The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...

. As a result, Dalton lost the seat to the Liberal party's Ian Griffith

Ian Griffith

Ian Ross Griffith was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1956 until 1978...

. Dalton re-contested the seat at the 1959

New South Wales state election, 1959

The 1959 New South Wales state election was held on 21 March 1959. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1957 redistribution...

 election and defeated the Liberal candidate Keith Bates. Griffith successfully transferred to the seat of Miranda

Electoral district of Miranda

Miranda is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Graham Annesley of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Members for Miranda:-Election results:...

 at that election. Dalton remained in parliament until he was defeated at the 1968

New South Wales state election, 1968

The 1968 New South Wales state election was held on 24 February 1968. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1966 redistribution...

 election by the Liberal candidate, Tim Walker. Dalton then retired from public life and became a taxi-truck operator. He did not hold party, parliamentary or ministerial office.