Richard Nash (Australian politician)

Richard Harry (Dick) Nash (2 July 1890 – 12 December 1951) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate from 1943 until his death in 1951.[1]

Richard Nash
Senator for Western Australia
In office
21 August 1943 – 12 December 1951
Succeeded byJoe Cooke
Personal details
Born(1890-07-02)2 July 1890
Ascot Vale, Victoria
Died12 December 1951(1951-12-12) (aged 61)
Subiaco, Western Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
OccupationTramway worker

Nash was born in the Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale and moved with his family to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in 1897. He received a primary education in Boulder then apprenticed as a mechanic and worked for the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper as mechanic and proofreader. In 1910, he was employed by the Kalgoorlie tramways, serving as conductor, motorman and inspector, and being a founding member and later secretary of the Kalgoorlie Tramways Employees Union until 1916. In 1916, Nash relocated to Perth and worked on the Perth tramways. Nas was president of the Perth Tramways Employees Union in 1917-18 and 1922, when he transferred to the role of union secretary, serving in that capacity for many years thereafter. He was also secretary of the Labor Day Committee c. 1923.[1][2][3][4]

Nash served variously as trustee, treasurer, president and (from 1939) secretary of the Metropolitan District Council of the state Labor Party between 1917 and 1943. He was acting general secretary of the state branch in 1939, state vice-president from 1941 to 1943 and a delegate to the federal executive at the time of his election to parliament. He was a Municipality of Subiaco councillor from 1932 to 1935 and again from 1935 to 1944. Other roles in the late 1930s and 1940s included member of the Metropolitan Market Trust, member of the Advisory Committee of the Perth Hospital and member of the State Manpower Board.[1][2][5]

Nash was elected to the Australian Senate at the 1943 election and was due to take his seat in July 1944, but was instead appointed to a casual vacancy caused by the death of Senator James Cunningham. He was re-elected at the 1951 election, but died suddenly in office from a heart attack in December that year and was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.[6][1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Oliver, Bobbie. "NASH, Richard Harry (1890–1951)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Senate Vacancy". Westralian Worker. 16 July 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via Trove.
  3. ^ "People in the News". Westralian Worker. 29 June 1923. p. 5. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "Senator Nash Dead At 61". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 13 December 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "Metropolitan Market Trust". Westralian Worker. 17 July 1942. p. 1. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "Obituaries and Funerals". The Examiner (Tasmania). 13 December 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via Trove.