People Australia

Arthur Gietzelt, n.d.

Arthur Thomas Gietzelt (1920-2014) clerk, shire president and Federal Senator 

Birth: 28 December 1920 at San Francisco, United States of America, eldest of three children of Queensland-born parents Arthur Anton Gietzelt (1895-1993), electrician, salesman and manufacturer, and his wife Ida Caroline, née Stoward (1895-1991). Marriage: 1 September 1949 at the Registrar General’s Office in Sydney to Dawn Olive Haslam (1926-2015), a librarian. They had two sons and one daughter. Death: 5 January 2014. 

• Arrived in Sydney with parents aboard the Ventura on 7 August 1922.
• Educated at Sans Souci Primary and Hurstville High. Employed in family’s paint chemicals, shoe product finishes and dye manufacturing business.
• Served in Royal Australian Engineers and other units in the Australian Imperial Force and Citizens Military Force from 1941 to 1946, promoted to sergeant. Member of NSW executive of the Returned Services League 1947-1949.
• His parents were active in the Australian Labor Party and Arthur joined the Sans Souci branch of the Industrial [or Heffron] Labor Party in 1937. President and secretary in branch, state and federal electoral councils of ALP. Member of the Federal Executive from 1971. Chairman, Federal Executive Aboriginal Affairs Committee; chairman, NSW branch Urban Affairs and Environmental Committee.
• Elected to the Australian Senate on 21 November 1970, his term commencing on 1 July 1971. Chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Government Finance, President of Federal Parliamentary Labor Party's Public (FPLP) Works and Electoral Committee, member of Senate Standing Committee, member of Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, secretary of Urban Affairs, Environment and Housing Committee of the FPLP; vice-president of FPLP Economic and Trade Committee. Minister for Veterans’ Affairs from 1983 to 1987. Resigned from Senate on 27 February 1989.
• Councillor of Sutherland Shire Council from 1956 to 1971, shire president 1961-1963 and 1966-1971. Executive member Local Govt Association of NSW 1968-71.
• Life member, ALP NSW branch in 1991, nominated by Caringbah branch ALP; Delegate to NSW Labor Council, District delegate, Branch officer and delegate to ACTU Congress.
• His widow’s tombstone records her as an “anti-war campaigner & peace activist, advocate for women’s & indigenous rights, keen gardener & painter”.

Sources
Joan Rydon (ed), A biographical register of the Commonwealth Parliament 1901-1972 (ANU Press, 1975); Labor Year Book, 1973; Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate: https://biography.senate.gov.au/gietzelt-arthur-thomas/