People Australia

Colin Colborne, n.d.

Colin Colborne (1909-1987) compositor, printer, trade union official, Labor politician 

Birth: 3 October 1909 at Brisbane, Queensland, son of William Parry Colborne (1859-1945), foundation member of Typographical Association of Queensland, born at Albion Hill, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, and his second wife Kathleen Mary, née Davey (1876-1946), born in Queensland. Marriage: 19 June 1937 at Sydney, New South Wales, to native-born Ellen Marjorie Hindmarsh (1911-2003). They had one son and two daughters. Death: 9 August 1987 at Carlton, NSW. 

• His father was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council, one of the “suicide club” which helped abolished the council.
• Colin was educated at St James and Gregory Terrace Christian Brothers colleges, Brisbane. He worked as a machine compositor in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
• From 1938 to 1952 he was assistant federal secretary of the Printing Trades Employees Union of Australia — amalgamating with Amalgamated Printing Trades Employees Union to form Printing and Kindred Industries Union (PKIU).
• Federal Secretary of PKIU from 1952 to 1974.
• Commissioned as Justice of the Peace in 1938.
• Editor and publisher of the Printing Trades Journal from 1952 to 1974. Made several study trips overseas to study technological change in printing industry.
• Delegate to Trades Labor Council and Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) conferences from 1945 to 1973. Executive member of the ACTU 1969-73.
• Member of the Australian Labor Party central executive from 1944 to 1952.
• Elected a member of the NSW Legislative Council on 23 April 1949. Held the seat until 22 April 1973.
• Recreational interests included reading, fishing and gardening.

Sources
Heather Radi, Peter Spearritt & Elizabeth Hinton (eds), Biographical Register of the NSW Parliament 1901-1970 (Canberra, 1979); Printing Trades Journal, June 1951, June 1959, April 1961, August 1966, May 1971, April 1973, November 1973.