People Australia

George Patrick Buckley (1881-1958) drayman, caretaker, trade union leader and member of parliament 

Birth: 1 May 1881 in Tambar Springs, New South Wales, son of James Walter Buckley, pastoralist, and Annie Theresa, née Comber. Marriage: 22 September 1909 in Sydney to Jessie Emma Jane Hungerford. They had two daughters. Death: 30 October 1958 in Petersham, NSW. Religion: Catholic. 

• Delegate to Labor Council of NSW; in 1918 was executive member. Member, Eight Hour Day Committee. Member, central executive of Labor Party NSW in 1916-17 and 1923-24. From about 1917 to 1920, was vice-president of the Trolley, Draymen and Carters' Union (TDCU). An opponent of union's allegedly corrupt secretary A. C. Brightfield (1918-1921).
• Unsuccessful candidate for union presidency in 1920 and for secretaryship in 1921. Secretary of the TDCU from 1923 to 1925. His period in office lacked the drama and obloquy of his immediate forerunners, but was too brief to permit a return to stability.
• A Lang supporter, he resigned in March 1925 to work for the Labor Party but continued to attend union meetings. Filled casual vacancy on Amalgamated Road Transport Workers' Union (ARTWU), NSW Branch, committee of Management in 1927. Organiser ARTWU (NSW), from 1927 to 1934; lost position in spill which also saw removal from office of union secretary H. J. Frost.
• Member of the Legislative Council, in the NSW parliament from November 1931 (Lang appointee) to April 1934 (defeated).
• Later worked as a caretaker.

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt and Elizabeth Hinton, Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); p.33; Mark Bray and Andrew Rimmer, Delivering the Goods; the Transport Workers’ Union in New South Wales 1888-1986 (Sydney, 1987).