Denis Murphy

Denis Joseph Murphy (6 August 1936 – 21 June 1984) was an Australian Labor Party politician, historian and biographer. Born in Nambour, Queensland, Murphy was the youngest of nine children and went to an all boys Catholic school, St Joseph's Nudgee College. After graduating, he went on to study high school PE teaching and later became an educator at Redcliffe State High School. As Murphy worked he went back to university and completed his master's degree in Queensland's state enterprises in 1965 at the University of Queensland. In 1966 he left his job as a PE teacher and took on a full-time position at the University of Queensland. Before his rise in politics, he was an academic historian and researched extensively in Australian History.

In 1981 he was elected the President of the Queensland State Labor Party. In 1980, Murphy wrote Labor in Power, which received negative responses particularly from Bede Nairn, another Labor Party Historian, "attacked the book's uncritical discussions of Labor and its affiliated unions".

Legacy After Murphy's death, a number of tributes were made to commemorate his life and the work that he did during his time as an historian and Labor Politician. The dedication was co-authored by a number of Murphy's former colleagues at the University of Queensland such as Kay Saunders, Murray Johnson and Brian Costar. An obituary for Murphy was written by Roger Joyce in 1984 and published by the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. Roger Joyce was a professor at the University of Queensland and oversaw Murphy's PhD on T.J Ryan when Denis was still a student. Joyce states in the obituary that "Denis was one of the best examples of the "fire in the belly" school of historians." In 2014, 30 years after Murphy's death, Anthony Albanese made a speech on the power of communities and based his discussion on the life of Denis Murphy. Albanese spoke highly of Murphy in his speech and stated that "Denis was one of Queensland Labor's greatest leaders."

Written works

Prelude to Power: The Rise of the Labour Party in Queensland 1885-1915 (1970) T.J. Ryan: A Political Biography (1975) Labour In Politics (1975) Queensland Political Portraits 1859-1965 (1978) Ken Laidlaw: A White Collar Union Leader (1979) Labour in Power: The Labour Party and Governments in Queensland (1980) Hayden: A Political Biography (1980) The Big Strikes: Queensland 1889-1965 (1983)

Memorial lecture series

A lecture series in honour of Murphy was established. Lectures in the series have included the following:

1991: John Kerin MP, Treasurer. 30 August. 1992: Peter Beattie, MLA, Member for Brisbane Central. A reformist party in government: the courage needed for reform. 14 November. 1993: Barry Jones, former Labor MP. The agenda for the 1990s. 31 July.

2014: 24th Lecture. Anthony Albanese, M.P., former cabinet minister. Denis Murphy and the power of communities, 8 November. 2015: 25th Lecture. Douglas Cameron, Senator for NSW, 22 August. 2016: 26th Lecture. Sam Dastyari, Senator for NSW. 2017: Linda Burney, MP. 21 October.