Martin Flannery (Australian politician)

Martin Matthew Flannery (13 December 1885 – 7 February 1935) was an Australian politician. He served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1920 to 1932, representing the Electoral district of Murrumbidgee for the Labor Party.

Martin Flannery
Secretary for Public Works
In office
17 June 1925 – 26 May 1927
Minister for Railways
In office
17 June 1925 – 26 May 1927
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Murrumbidgee
In office
20 March 1920 – 18 May 1932
Serving with Ernest Buttenshaw (1920-1927)
Arthur Grimm (1920-1925)
Edmund Best (1925-1927)
Preceded byPatrick McGarry
Succeeded byRobert Hankinson
Personal details
Born
Martin Matthew Flannery

(1885-12-13)13 December 1885
Barmedman, New South Wales
Died7 February 1935(1935-02-07) (aged 49)
Woollahra, New South Wales
Resting placeWaverley Cemetery
Political partyLabor Party
SpouseElizabeth Glennan
Children2
OccupationCompositor, Timbercutter

Early life

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He was born at Barmedman to mine manager Matthew Flannery and Johanna, née Fitzgerald. He became a compositor with the Wyalong Star before travelling to New Zealand, returning to become a timbercutter for the True Blue Mine in West Wyalong and farmer.[1] He was a member of the Yenda branch of the Labor Party and served on Bland Shire Council from 1914 to 1917. On 28 February 1922 he married Elizabeth Glennan, with whom he had two children.[1]

Parliamentary career

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In 1920 Flannery was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Labor member for the multi-member seat of Murrumbidgee, serving alongside Ernest Buttenshaw, of the Country Party, and Nationalist Party members Arthur Grimm and Edmund Best.[1] Flannery continued to represent the seat following the change to single member constituencies in 1927 and was described by the Riverine Grazier, an anti-Labor newspaper, as "a good local member, with a clean record ... and a formidable antagonist".[2] He was Secretary for Public Works and Minister for Railways in the first Lang Ministry from 1925 to 1927, but was seen as an opponent of the controversial premier and was unsuccessfully opposed by Lang's supporters for Labor preselection in Murrumbidgee.[3][4] Flannery served in the Assembly until the 1932 state election, when he lost his seat in a statewide swing against Labor.[2] Flannery died at Woollahra in 1935.[1]

 
Flannery's funeral on 9 February 1935

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Mr Martin Matthew Flannery". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b Hagan, Jim (2006). People and Politics in Regional New South Wales: 1856 to the 1950s. Federation Press. p. 238. ISBN 1-86287-570-7.
  3. ^ Cunneen, Christopher (2000). William John McKell: Boilermaker, Premier, Governor-General. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. p. 93. ISBN 0-86840-587-6. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  4. ^ Howells, Arthur (1983). Against the Stream: the memories of a philosophical anarchist, 1927-1939. Hyland House. p. 48. ISBN 9780908090488. Retrieved 25 May 2013.

 

New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Murrumbidgee
1920–1932
Served alongside: Buttenshaw, Grimm/Best; none
Succeeded by