People Australia

William Riordan, 1956

National Archives of Australia, L21675

William James Frederick (Bill) Riordan (1908-1973) public servant and Labor parliamentarian

Birth: 8 February 1908 at Chillagoe, Queensland, son of native-born parents William James Riordan (1882-1955), miner, union official and parliamentarian, and Annie Helen, née Page (1886-1941). Marriage: 19 December 1942 at St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, Sydney, to Kathleen Amelda Garvey (1910-1970), an interior decorator born at Ballarat, Victoria. Death: 15 January 1973 in Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane. Religion: Catholic. 

• His father, Jim, was a member of the Legislative Council in Queensland.
• Bill was educated at Brisbane Boys Grammar School. After studying law, he worked in the Queensland Department of Justice for seven years and became secretary to his father.
• He was a member of the Australian Workers’ Union and on the council of State Service Union. Joining the Australian Labor Party, he was president of Windsor branch of the party. He was secretary of the Queensland Labor and Speakers League.
• Riordan was elected a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Kennedy at a by-election in December 1936.
• He was minister for the Navy in 1946-1949; chairman of committees 1943-1946; member of joint committee on broadcasting 1941-1942. He retired from parliament in 1966 and was appointed CBE the following year.
• Cause of death: pneumonia.
• Riordan was the nephew of Queensland politicians David Riordan and E.J. Riordan. 

Sources
Who’s Who in Australia, 1938-1965; Courier Mail (Brisbane), 18 January 1973; L. F. Crisp & S. P. Bennett, Australian Labor Party: federal personnel 1901-1954, (Canberra, 1954).