John Morris

John Joseph Morris (12 June 1936 – 8 February 2013) was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He was a long-serving official of unions associated with the liquor industry in New South Wales, including the Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union and Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union, holding various positions at state and federal level from the 1970s to the 2000s. He also represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the New South Wales Legislative Council (1976–1984) and as a Senator for New South Wales (1985–1990). He retired from the Senate before the 1990 federal election following controversies over his attendance record, lifestyle and alleged union misconduct.

Early life Morris was born on 12 June 1936 in Young Wallsend, New South Wales. He was the youngest of six children born to Minnie Doreen (née Gavin) and Thomas Wallace Hope Morris. His family was active in the labour movement; his father worked as a boilermaker and his grandfather Thomas Morris had represented the ALP on the Fairfield Municipal Council.

After leaving school, Morris began working at the abattoir in Homebush as an apprentice slaughterman. He lost his apprenticeship due to a sporting injury and instead began working in the hospital industry, including at the bowls club in Beecroft. Morris led a "New Deal" ticket in the subsequent elections and was elected as state secretary, in what Graham Richardson later described as "one of the most bitter union fights in history".

Morris was known early in his career as a "strong defender of working conditions" with a "powerful appeal for the rank and file in the dispersed and casualised industry". He led strike action on a number of occasions, including major strikes of hotel workers in 1977 and 1978. In 1986 he led a sit-in at Tooheys Brewery to protest superannuation entitlements.

In 1976, Morris was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council, as one of the final indirectly elected members prior to the Legislative Council's reconstitution as a fully elective body in 1978. He did not face direct election until the 1984 state election, when he was re-elected in fourth position on the ALP's statewide ticket. He resigned less than a year later to contest the next federal election. He spoke infrequently in the Senate, rarely engaging in debate although he was frequently tasked with posing Dorothy Dixers to government ministers.

In February 1990, Morris announced that he would not recontest his seat at the 1990 federal election, with his term consequently expiring on 30 June 1990. In May 1990, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that "during his years as an LTU official and senator, Morris and his wife had purchased twenty-three properties across NSW and the ACT, one of which was sold in 1989 for $1.8 million". The Australian Financial Review attributed his resignation from the ticket to "public attacks over neglect of union members and his affluent lifestyle".

Personal life In 1957, Morris married Margaret Pettigrew, with whom he had two children. He and his wife were deeply involved in the greyhound racing industry, with his wife being a registered trainer. He served on the boards of the Greyhound Racing Authority and the Wentworth Park Sporting Complex.

Morris died on 8 February 2013, aged 76, while watching a greyhound race at The Gardens Greyhound and Sporting Complex in Newcastle.