William Gibbs

William Albion Gibbs (5 July 1879 – 17 August 1944) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and briefly served as a Senator for New South Wales in 1925, filling the casual vacancy caused by the death of Jack Power. He was the party's assistant state secretary in New South Wales from 1915 to 1925 and stood unsuccessfully for parliament at state and federal level on several occasions.

Early life Gibbs was born in Melbourne on 5 July 1879. He was the son of Mary Ann (née Martin) and Frederick Gibbs; his father was a solicitor.

Gibbs attended King's College in Fitzroy. He enlisted in the Victorian Citizen Bushmen during the Boer War and served in South Africa from 1901 to 1902. On his return he found work as a miner at Cobar, New South Wales, where he became involved in the labour movement. He was a paid organiser for the Amalgamated Miners' Association of New South Wales from 1911 to 1914, including at the Mount Boppy Gold Mine where he was involved in an altercation with the mine manager and sued for assault. On his return he established the Returned Soldiers' No‑Conscription League of Australia, which was active in the movement against conscription. He tied with Nationalist candidate Josiah Thomas in the parliamentary vote and was elected on the casting vote of the presiding officer Fred Flowers.

Gibbs remained loyal to "Federal Labor" during the 1931 ALP split in New South Wales. He stood unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives at the 1931 federal election as an anti-Lang candidate, running in the seat of Parkes. He died of heart failure and arteriosclerosis on 17 August 1944 at his home in Belmore, New South Wales.