George Taylor

George "Mulga" Taylor (16 May 1861 – 24 September 1935) was an Australian labour leader and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1901 to 1930. He was a minister in the government of Henry Daglish, and later served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1917 to 1924.

Early life Taylor was born in Campbelltown, New South Wales (on the outskirts of Sydney), to Margaret (née Bourke) and Robert Taylor. He joined a shearing team at the age of 12, and his work as a shearer eventually took him to Queensland, where he became involved with the fledgling labour movement. An organiser of the Queensland Shearers' Union, he was involved with the 1891 shearers' strike, and in its aftermath was among twelve strike leaders convicted of criminal conspiracy. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on St Helena Island Prison, but was released early for good behaviour. After his release, Taylor left for Coolgardie, Western Australia, subsequently working as a miner in Erlistoun and Sir Samuel. He maintained his involvement with the labour movement while in the Goldfields, helping to found a local branch of the Amalgamated Workers' Association (a predecessor of the Australian Workers Union).

Parliamentary career At the 1901 state election, Taylor was elected to the newly created seat of Mount Margaret, which was initially centred around the town of the same name. He had poor relations with many of the seven other Labor MPs who had been elected (including Thomas Bath and William Johnson), and at one stage was briefly expelled from the parliamentary caucus after attacking the party's leader, Robert Hastie. However, Taylor's confrontational attitude cooled once Henry Daglish became leader, and he was appointed Colonial Secretary when Daglish became premier in August 1904. but the Daglish government did not last much longer, losing a confidence motion in August 1905. He was re-elected to the position after the 1917 state election, at which he also won re-election to his seat under the National Labor banner. Taylor served as speaker until the Coalition government's defeat at the 1924 state election. Shortly after, the National Labor Party was formally merged into the Nationalist Party. He served on the court until his retirement in 1933, Taylor had married the widow Netta Whalan, (a daughter of George Oughton) in 1910, with whom he had one child and also several stepchildren. She predeceased him, dying in June 1933.