Johno Johnson

John Richard "Johno" Johnson (26 July 1930 – 9 August 2017) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1976 to 2001. He held the presidency of the Legislative Council from 1978 to 1991, making him one of the longest-serving Presidents in the chamber's history, and was the first elected President to be voted out of office. Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten described him as "the heart, soul and sinews of NSW Labor", and former Prime Minister Paul Keating called him "a true prince of the Labor movement."

Early life Johnson was born on 26 July 1930 in Murwillumbah, northern New South Wales, the son of Nellie, a housewife, and Harry Johnson, a quarantine officer on the Queensland–NSW border. An early bout of tetanus delayed his schooling by two years. He was educated at Mt St Patrick's Catholic School in Murwillumbah. His father died suddenly when Johnson was a teenager, forcing him to leave school after nine months of secondary education to support the family. He worked in the family grocery store, then as a railway clerk, post office employee, credit union manager and shop assistant before finding his vocation in the labour movement. He was a full-time union official from 1962. He became well known for raising funds through raffles, Melbourne Cup sweeps and the patient cultivation of donors.

He opened by paying tribute to John Ducker, president of the ALP, and Barrie Unsworth, assistant secretary of the Labor Council of New South Wales, for their help and guidance over many years. He also paid special tribute to four nuns of the Lismore Presentation Order who had shaped his thinking during his formative years: Sisters Mary Kieran, Aiden and Koska, and the late Sister Mary de Sales Daly.

Keating paid tribute in terms that acknowledged the distance between Johnson's generation and the present: "John was part of a generation of believers. We can only trust the essence, commitment and intensity of those beliefs can stand as an example to another generation committed to social ideals and public virtue."

At one of Johnson's retirement functions, Neville Wran surveyed a room of Labor stalwarts, bishops, religious leaders and family and began his speech: "I can't think of a single thing Johno and I agree on" — before proceeding to pay deep-felt tribute to his courage, his convictions, and his arresting presence.

In his later years, even as his physical condition declined, Johnson continued to mentor politicians from his nursing home, receiving regular visits from former premiers Barrie Unsworth and Bob Carr and former Prime Minister Paul Keating.

In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI created Johnson a Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great (KCSG) for services to the Church in Australia, in recognition of his defence of Catholic social teaching in political life and his work with organisations including the Right to Life movement and the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Personal life Johnson married Pauline Christina Russell on 6 January 1962. They adopted two sons and two daughters — Andrew, Michael, Monica and Naomi — whom he described in his maiden speech as his "four chosen children." Fisher also said: "Others will speak of his life in the labour movement and the party, as an MP and as President of the Legislative Council — but in all these matters Johno was a true believer."

The Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Fr Gerald Gleeson, asked priests across the archdiocese to remember Johnson in their Masses, writing: "Johno was the Chairman of the Board of The Catholic Weekly for ten years and was outstanding in his commitment to the Church; always taking a strong stand in his political life to support the Right to Life movement, being outspoken against euthanasia, and providing his leisure time to assist causes within his Parish including the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society."