Australian Dictionary of Biography

Jack Wright, n.d.

John David (Jack) Wright (1927–1998), shearer, labour leader, and politician, was born on 29 January 1927 at Toowoomba, Queensland, only child of Victorian-born John Wright, shearing contractor, and his New South Wales-born wife, Irene Jean, née O'Donaghue. Jack was educated at the Christian Brothers’ Mount Carmel College, Charters Towers, where he was cited for academic merit in elocution. His father deserted the family when Wright was eleven. After finishing his formal education at fifteen, he moved with his mother to Townsville. He followed his father’s trade as a shearer, first in Queensland, and then in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. These experiences influenced his lifelong commitment to workplace justice and unionism.

Wright joined the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) in 1942. He served as an official in Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia during a period of frequent industrial disputes, including as secretary of the shears’ strike committee in Queensland in 1945, in various positions on the union’s pastoral workers’ committee at Broken Hill, New South Wales (1949–57), and as an organiser at Port Augusta, South Australia (1957–1966). On 13 December 1952 he married a South Australian-born barmaid, Norma Joan Forby, at the Oxide Street Methodist Church, Broken Hill.

In 1964 Wright was elected president of the South Australian branch of the AWU, amid a split between the branch secretary—backed by the union’s general secretary, Tom Dougherty—and state organisers, including Wright. The federal executive then intervened to dismiss him and other state executive members for alleged breaches of rules, and he was also expelled from the union. The status quo was restored through a decision of the Commonwealth Industrial Court in November 1965, and he remained on the State executive until 1971. He built strong relationships with prominent labour identities in South Australia, including Clyde Cameron and Mick Young, both of whom had also been shearers, and Jim Toohey of the Vehicle Builders’ Union, through a period of stability in the Australian Labor Party’s South Australian branch.

Wright's organisational and political skills, crafted through his immersion in industrial activism, made him a significant figure in the South Australian ALP. The party had not held office since 1933, its union-based political leadership was ineffective, and it was hindered by the State’s electoral system that for many years disadvantaged urban electorates. Though Labor won the 1965 election under Frank Walsh, the ALP powerbrokers had little confidence in the aged leader, and instead backed the erudite Don Dunstan, deciding, in Wright’s words, ‘to give the skinny kid a go’ (Michael Wright, pers. comm.). Dunstan became party leader and premier in June 1967; for Wright and his colleagues, there was little point being in politics without occupying the government benches.

Following the death of the ALP member of the legislative assembly for Adelaide, Sam Lawn, Wright was elected at a by-election in July 1971. Over a fourteen-year parliamentary career he served under premiers Dunstan, Des Corcoran, and John Bannon, helping behind the scenes to ensure union support for the ALP leadership. He was appointed to the ministry in 1975 with responsibility for labour and industry (1975–79). Other portfolios followed: minister assisting the premier in industrial democracy (1977–79), minister for public works (1982–84), labour (1982–85), and emergency services (1984–85), and chief secretary (1984–85). He was also Bannon’s deputy premier (1982–85). Observers regarded him as a ‘strong and active’ minister, a capable parliamentarian, the ‘personality speaker’ of the government, a ‘fixer’ (Cunningham 1981, 172–73), and an ‘enforcer’ (English 1985). He sponsored initiatives in workers’ compensation, occupational health and safety, and job creation schemes, while he was also renowned for his direct interventions to keep the industrial peace.

Following Labor’s unexpected election loss in September 1979, Wright played a significant role as ‘kingmaker’ (Chatterton 2003, 211) in the machinations that led to Bannon's election as parliamentary leader. Wright ruled himself out of contention, and Bannon, who had also worked for the AWU, was elected unopposed. During his time as deputy to Bannon, one of Wright’s strengths was ‘reminding a conservative and business-oriented government of the dangers of forgetting the constituency which put it into power’ (Walsh 1983, 61). In Bannon’s words, he was ‘the best negotiator I have ever seen in action, a mix of toughness, knowledge and, most importantly, good humour’ (Turner 1998, 12).

Poor health forced Wright to step down from the ministry in July 1985, and to retire from parliament that December. According to Bannon, Wright was ‘irreplaceable’ and ‘losing Jack (was) like losing a limb’ (Harris 1985, 1). In retirement he served on various government bodies, including as chair of the Lotteries Commission. He was a life member of the AWU, and in 1986 he was appointed AO. The many tributes to ‘Big Jack,’ from all sides of politics and the media, alluded to his qualities as an advocate, mentor, and family man as well as his role in bringing together the industrial and political wings of the ALP. A physically imposing man with a strong head of black hair and distinctively large glasses, he was known for plain speaking, a characteristic enhanced by a gravelly voice. He retained a laconic humour from his shearing days, and while he was unafraid of conflict, his strength was in brokering compromises between contending parties. He loved sport, especially horseracing and Australian Rules football, particularly the Norwood Football Club. Socially, he delighted in the conviviality of his profession, engaging with constituents, and enjoying regular drinks and lunches with party and union comrades. His somewhat knockabout style concealed an astute and pragmatic operator who was instrumental in modernising the ALP in South Australia.

Wright died in Adelaide on 28 August 1998, having endured ischaemic heart disease for many years, and following a state funeral was buried in Centennial Park cemetery, Pasadena. He was survived by Norma and their son Michael, who served in the South Australian parliament as the member for Lee (1997–2014). The offices of the AWU in South Australia were named Jack Wright House when they opened in 2004.