English: Edward Michael Hanlon, premier of Queensland, addressing the Legislative Assembly on the occasion of the Industrial Law Amendment Bill, 1948.

Edward Michael Hanlon, railway worker, grocer and premier, was born on 1 October 1887 at Paddington, Brisbane. He was educated at Petrie Terrace State School and the Brisbane Technical College. In 1901 he was messanger boy for several barristers before working in a grocery store. He joined the Queensland Railways Department as a porter in 1903 and was later a shunter. Hanlon helped to establish the Queensland Railway Union and was a member and vice-president of its management-committee. In 1915 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and joined the 9th Battalion in Egypt. He served on the Western Front and rose to the rank of sergeant.

After being discharged in 1919 he set up a grocery business with his brother Patrick. Hanlon later entered politics and won the seat of Ithaca for the Labor Party in 1926. In Forgan Smith's government Hanlon was home secretary from June 1932 to December 1935 when he became secretary for health and home affairs. In 1944 he became treasurer and deputy to the premier F.A. Cooper. From 7 March 1946 until his death in office on 15 January 1952, Hanlon was premier of Queensland. (Information taken from: Australian dictionary of biography, Vol. 14, 1996).