People Australia

Jack Meaney, n.d.

John Henry (Jack) Meaney (1911-2006) stockman, waterfront worker, cook, trade union official and Communist

Birth: 14 September 1911 at Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Ireland, son of Peter Francis Meaney (1881-1941) and Gertrude Susannah, née Hunt (1888-1975). Marriage: 1937 at Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, to Esther Muriel Sargent (1914-2001). They had two sons. Death: 4 February 2006 at Darwin, Northern Territory. 

• Migrated to Australia as a child. Had no formal education. Spent early childhood in Australia travelling North Queensland.
• Was introduced to Marxism and the Communist Party of Australia by an old pensioner whilst working on the Palmer River goldfields during the 1930s Depression.
• In Northern Territory, he worked as a drover, horseman and stockman. Employed on many stations including as manager at Banka Banka, and at Newcastle Waters. Arrived in Darwin for the first time in 1934.
• Met Esther Sargent on the Roper Valley cattle station, where she was working as a cook. He worked on the railway for the following twelve months and then as a publican at Mataranka for twelve months. Joined the North Australian Workers’ Union (NAWU) on Brunette Downs in 1934. Became a member of the CPA. Fought for improved wages and conditions on the stations.
• During war years he belonged to the Civil Construction Corps and was president, secretary and treasurer, often all at the same time, of the NAWU. Moved back to Katherine in 1944. Esther joined him in May 1945.
• Moved back to Fannie Bay, Darwin, in November 1945. Worked on the waterfront in the 1950s; was a member of Waterside Workers’ Section, NAWU. Opposed the Grouper takeover of the NAWU after 1952.
• Left Darwin for Milton Springs in 1959. Worked as geological assistant sampling for the Bureau of Mineral Resources at Rum Jungle.
• Returned to Darwin in 1970. Worked for the City Council. Was on the executive of the Miscellaneous Workers Union (MWU). Was president of the NT Branch of MWU from 1973, retiring in 1976. Cooked for Council workers after Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
• Settled in Batchelor in June 1975. Had a life-long membership of the NAWU.

Sources
Jack Meaney interview with Barbara James (no date); Jack Meaney interview with Julie T. Wells, 15 December 1992; E. Meaney, Esther The True Life Story of an Australian Country Girl, (1988); Frank Hardy, The Unlucky Australians (Melbourne, 1968); Federation News, April-June 1977 p 10.