Bob Poke

Albert George "Bob" Poke (16 February 1906 – 4 January 1989) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1956 to 1974. He was a long-serving officeholder in the Timber Workers' Union and Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union.

Early life Poke was born on 16 February 1906 in Somerset, Tasmania. He was the second of nine children born to Georgina (née Burgess) and Alfred John Poke. His father worked as a labourer and stockman.

Poke was educated at state schools. He left school at a young age and by 1920 was working at a sawmill. During the Great Depression he was an itinerant bush worker. He worked in the timber industry in north-west Tasmania until the late 1940s, including as a timber mill foreman and engine-driver. During World War II he volunteered for military service but was deemed part of a "reserved occupation" and refused permission to enlist. He had originally nominated for preselection, but withdrew due to illness.

Personal life In 1936, Poke married Honora Roden, with whom he had two sons. He was divorced in 1947 and remarried in the same year to Alice Jacobs, with whom he had one daughter. After leaving the Senate he retired to Glenorchy and Lauderdale. He died on 4 January 1989 in Calvary Hospital, Hobart.