Tom Uren
Encyclopedia
Thomas Uren, AO was a Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party. He helped establish the heritage and conservation movement in Australia and, in particular, worked to preserve the heritage of inner Sydney.
, Sydney, then a working-class suburb, and was educated at Manly
High School. Uren's family is of Cornish ancestry
, originating in Penzance
. Uren played rugby league
for Manly Warringah in his youth and was a strong competitive swimmer. He had an early career as a professional boxer, and challenged for the Australian heavyweight championship against Billy Britt.
In 1941, Uren joined the Australian Army
and served in the 2/40th Infantry Battalion. He was deployed to Timor
and was a prisoner of the Japanese from 1942 to 1945, during which time he worked on the Burma-Siam railway
and served with Edward "Weary" Dunlop
. He was later transferred to Japan where he witnessed the distant crimson sky resulting from the explosion of the US atom bomb on Nagasaki
. He was discharged in December, 1945 with the rank of Bombardier
.
After the war Uren spent a short time trying to revive his boxing career which included a trip to England and he worked for his passage on voyages through the Panama Canal
. On return he spent some time as a Woolworths manager at Lithgow
. He was inspired to join the Australian Labor Party
after attending Ben Chifley
's funeral.
He and his wife Patricia moved to Guildford
, in Sydney's west, in the late 1940s, and established two small retailing outlets on the corner of Chetwynd Road and Hawksview Street, West Guildford to gain the financial independence to pursue a political career. Uren also built a family home nearby, before transferring from the Lithgow branch of the Labor party to the West Guildford branch in 1954.
There is now a park in Iris Steet, West Guildford, called "Tom Uren Park" in memory of the Labor Party local.
seat of Reid
in western Sydney, which he won at the 1958 election
. He was to represent the electorate until his retirement before the 1990 election, thirty two years later.
Uren was a strong supporter of the left wing of the Labor Party, led at first by Eddie Ward
and later by Jim Cairns
, and was sometimes accused of being a secret communist, an accusation he denied. He campaigned against the Vietnam War
, conscription
and nuclear testing
.
In 1969 Uren was appointed by Gough Whitlam
to the Opposition front bench with responsibility for housing and urban affairs, which became his passion for the rest of his career. He was Minister for Urban and Regional Development
in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1975. He established the Australian Heritage Commission and consequent compilation of the Register of the National Estate. In Sydney, he promoted the restoration and re-use of derelict inner city areas such as the Glebe
Estate and Woolloomooloo
, the reclamation of Duck Creek and the creation of the Chipping Norton
Lakes Scheme. He was a key player in the creation of the Towra Point Nature Reserve
. Despite his rhetoric as a firebrand, he proved a highly competent minister and was one of the few ministers to emerge from the fall of the Whitlam government with his reputation enhanced.
In 1976 Uren was elected Deputy Leader of the Labor Party under Whitlam as Opposition Leader, but after the 1977 election
, when Bill Hayden
was elected Leader, he was replaced by Lionel Bowen
. He succeeded Jim Cairns as leader of the ALP Left, and bitterly opposed Bob Hawke
's rise to the Labor leadership. As a result, when the Hawke government won the 1983 election
, Uren, despite being a former deputy leader of the party, was omitted from the Cabinet – he was given the junior portfolio of Minister for Territories
and Local Government
, and from 1984 to 1987 Local Government
and Administrative Services. He became Father of the House of Representatives in 1984.
Uren stood down from the ministry after the 1987 election and retired from Parliament in 1990. He was the last veteran of World War II in the House of Representatives. In retirement he continues to campaign for various causes, including the protection of Sydney Harbour and its foreshores. He opposes Australia's participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
.
Early life
Uren was born in BalmainBalmain, New South Wales
Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....
, Sydney, then a working-class suburb, and was educated at Manly
Manly, New South Wales
Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Manly is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:Manly was named...
High School. Uren's family is of Cornish ancestry
Cornish Australian
Cornish Australians are citizens of Australia whose ancestry originates in Cornwall, United Kingdom, one of the six Celtic Nations. They form part of the worldwide Cornish diaspora which also includes large numbers of people in the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and many Latin...
, originating in Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
. Uren played rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
for Manly Warringah in his youth and was a strong competitive swimmer. He had an early career as a professional boxer, and challenged for the Australian heavyweight championship against Billy Britt.
In 1941, Uren joined the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
and served in the 2/40th Infantry Battalion. He was deployed to Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
and was a prisoner of the Japanese from 1942 to 1945, during which time he worked on the Burma-Siam railway
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...
and served with Edward "Weary" Dunlop
Edward Dunlop
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop, AC, CMG, OBE was an Australian surgeon who was renowned for his leadership while being held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II.-Early life and family:...
. He was later transferred to Japan where he witnessed the distant crimson sky resulting from the explosion of the US atom bomb on Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
. He was discharged in December, 1945 with the rank of Bombardier
Bombardier (rank)
Bombardier is a rank used in artillery units in the armies of Commonwealth countries instead of corporal. Lance-bombardier is used instead of lance-corporal....
.
After the war Uren spent a short time trying to revive his boxing career which included a trip to England and he worked for his passage on voyages through the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
. On return he spent some time as a Woolworths manager at Lithgow
Lithgow, New South Wales
Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of the local political division City of Lithgow. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales.Lithgow is...
. He was inspired to join 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...
after attending Ben Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
's funeral.
He and his wife Patricia moved to Guildford
Guildford, New South Wales
Guildford is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Guildford is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Holroyd and the City of Parramatta...
, in Sydney's west, in the late 1940s, and established two small retailing outlets on the corner of Chetwynd Road and Hawksview Street, West Guildford to gain the financial independence to pursue a political career. Uren also built a family home nearby, before transferring from the Lithgow branch of the Labor party to the West Guildford branch in 1954.
There is now a park in Iris Steet, West Guildford, called "Tom Uren Park" in memory of the Labor Party local.
Political career
Uren won Labor pre-selection in 1957 for the House of RepresentativesAustralian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
seat of Reid
Division of Reid
The Division of Reid is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the western suburbs of Sydney, and includes the suburbs of Abbotsford, Auburn , Berala , Breakfast Point, Burwood , Cabarita, Canada Bay, Chiswick, Concord, Concord West, Croydon , Drummoyne,...
in western Sydney, which he won at the 1958 election
Australian federal election, 1958
Federal elections were held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election...
. He was to represent the electorate until his retirement before the 1990 election, thirty two years later.
Uren was a strong supporter of the left wing of the Labor Party, led at first by Eddie Ward
Eddie Ward
Edward John "Eddie" Ward , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1931 until his death....
and later by Jim Cairns
Jim Cairns
James Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...
, and was sometimes accused of being a secret communist, an accusation he denied. He campaigned against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
and nuclear testing
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
.
In 1969 Uren was appointed by 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...
to the Opposition front bench with responsibility for housing and urban affairs, which became his passion for the rest of his career. He was Minister for Urban and Regional Development
Minister for Housing (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness is Mark Arbib, who was appointed on 14 September 2010, following the Labor Party's win at the 2010 election...
in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1975. He established the Australian Heritage Commission and consequent compilation of the Register of the National Estate. In Sydney, he promoted the restoration and re-use of derelict inner city areas such as the Glebe
Glebe, New South Wales
Glebe is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located 3 km south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region....
Estate and Woolloomooloo
Woolloomooloo, New South Wales
Woolloomooloo is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is located 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb is located in a low-lying, former...
, the reclamation of Duck Creek and the creation of the Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton, New South Wales
Chipping Norton is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Chipping Norton is located 27 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.-Aboriginal...
Lakes Scheme. He was a key player in the creation of the Towra Point Nature Reserve
Towra Point Nature Reserve
Towra Point Nature Reserve is a nature reserve of in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shores of Botany Bay at Kurnell, within the Sutherland Shire. It is a Ramsar site , as it is an important breeding ground for many vulnerable, protected, or endangered...
. Despite his rhetoric as a firebrand, he proved a highly competent minister and was one of the few ministers to emerge from the fall of the Whitlam government with his reputation enhanced.
In 1976 Uren was elected Deputy Leader of the Labor Party under Whitlam as Opposition Leader, but after the 1977 election
Australian federal election, 1977
Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1977. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election....
, when Bill Hayden
Bill Hayden
William George "Bill" Hayden AC was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the...
was elected Leader, he was replaced by Lionel Bowen
Lionel Bowen
Lionel Frost Bowen AC , Australian politician, was a senior Labor Party figure, serving in the ministries of Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke...
. He succeeded Jim Cairns as leader of the ALP Left, and bitterly opposed Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
's rise to the Labor leadership. As a result, when the Hawke government won the 1983 election
Australian federal election, 1983
Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...
, Uren, despite being a former deputy leader of the party, was omitted from the Cabinet – he was given the junior portfolio of Minister for Territories
Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Home Affairs has been Brendan O'Connor since 6 June 2009. The Home Affairs portfolio brings together agencies such as the Australian Customs Service , the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, which were previously the...
and Local Government
Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads (Australia)
Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads was a position within the Australian federal government from 7 October 2003 until 3 December 2007....
, and from 1984 to 1987 Local Government
Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads (Australia)
Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads was a position within the Australian federal government from 7 October 2003 until 3 December 2007....
and Administrative Services. He became Father of the House of Representatives in 1984.
Uren stood down from the ministry after the 1987 election and retired from Parliament in 1990. He was the last veteran of World War II in the House of Representatives. In retirement he continues to campaign for various causes, including the protection of Sydney Harbour and its foreshores. He opposes Australia's participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
.