Tony Mulvihill

James Anthony Mulvihill (27 April 1919 – 10 December 2000) was an Australian politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1965 to 1983, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He served as the party's assistant state secretary from 1956 to 1964 and was a railway worker and trade unionist before entering parliament.

Early life Mulvihill was born on 27 April 1919 in North Ryde, New South Wales. He was the only child of Agnes Ellen (née McNamara) and James Bernard Mulvihill. His father was an ironworker at the Mortlake gasworks and an active trade unionist.

Mulvihill was educated at St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Concord and De La Salle College Ashfield. He left school at the age of 15 and faced periods of unemployment before joining the Eveleigh Railway Workshops in 1935. He worked as a locomotive fireman and overhead crane driver, joining the Australian Railways Union (ARU) where he was a shop steward, branch trustee and delegate to the Labor Council of New South Wales.

Mulvihill served as ALP spokesperson for the environment in the Whitlam shadow ministry from 1976 to 1977. In parliament, Mulvihill supported the creation of the Kakadu National Park and opposed the creation of the adjacent Ranger Uranium Mine and uranium mining in general. He was also "prominent in the campaign to save the Colong Caves from mining" and advocated for the protection of endangered species including the Cape Barren goose. In response, Mulvihill was publicly criticised by Wichet Suthayakhom, the Thai ambassador to Australia.

Personal life In 1970, Mulvihill married Pamela O'Connell; the couple did not have children. He died on 10 December 2000, aged 83.