People Australia

Whiley, William Morton (Bill) (1927-2004) shunter, miner, trade unionist, Communist and community activist 

Birth: 26 August 1927 at Millthorpe, New South Wales, son of native-born parents, Harry Alvin Whiley (1898-1960) farmer and later railway worker and Annie Elizabeth, née Morton (1900-1984), schoolteacher. Marriage: 1957 at Sydney, NSW, to Alexa Joy Murphy (1931-2014), a teacher. They had two sons and one daughter. Death: 5 August 2004 in New South Wales. 

• Was a well-known Millthorpe footballer in his youth.
• Trained with cadets during World War II but the war ended before he could be recruited. Worked as a shunter on NSW railways based in Broken Hill and worked throughout western districts of the State.
• Became politically conscious during the 1949 national coal strike which he supported. Was employed as a miner in Broken Hill in 1950.
• Joined Communist Party of Australia (CPA) in Broken Hill because he was 'fed up' with the Australian Labor Party after its support for the jailing of Miners' Federation leaders.
• Elected as a councillor on Broken Hill Municipal Council for CPA in 1962, 1965, 1968 and 1971 (with fellow CPA member, Bill Flynn) being the last of the CPA councillors elected at the time. CPA and ALP candidates were defeated in 1974.
• Whiley visited Eastern Europe, Soviet Union and China in 1955 and Cuba in mid-1980s.
• He moved to Wollongong on the NSW South Coast in 1975 and became a coalminer at Coalcliff. Was lodge president, Miners Federation, and elected to Southern District board of management. Retired from the coal industry in 1987.
• National returning officer for CFMEU Mining and Energy Division, in retirement, Secretary of the NSW Retired Mineworkers' Association and of the NSW Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association at time of his death. In this role he helped lead a campaign to protect Medicare.
• Associated with the South Coast Labour Council and gained life membership in 2004.
• Active in industrial and political campaigns in Illawarra including leading miners and steel workers from Illawarra to protest at the then Parliament House in Canberra against imminent retrenchments in 1982 and staffing a picket at Sandon Point to preserve Aboriginal heritage in the early 2000s
• Member of SEARCH Foundation from its inception and called on its support to save South Coast hospitals and in the Medicare campaign.
• Candidate for NSW Upper House on Independent ticket with Jack Mundey in 1988.
• In Broken Hill he was a long-term member of the local Field Naturalists Society and an early advocate for conservation issues.
• Died from the asbestos related disease of mesothelioma. Had a private family funeral but gave instructions that a memorial gathering to celebrate his life should be held on September 11.

Sources
Information from Bob Gould, July 1995; Information from Paddy Gorman; Illawarra Mercury, 17 July 2004, p 4; Michael Organ MP: Parliament and Speeches; Green Left Weekly, 29 September 2004.