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- 18 October 2005
Death of John Brennan
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Page: 18789
Mr BRYCE GAUDRY (Newcastle—Parliamentary Secretary) [9.20 p.m.]: The strains of The Internationale welcomed a large gathering of comrades, friends and community leaders today to Beresfield Crematorium to say farewell to the late John Brennan and to reflect on his great contribution to our community and the Seamans Union of Australia. John Brennan was an outstanding leader of the Seamans Union of Australia, and a fighter for peace and social justice and the rights of working men and women. I offer condolence to John's wife, Elaine, and his sister, Patricia, and I extend the thanks of the people of Newcastle for his dedicated service to our community and to seafarers worldwide. John Brennan served for 38 years as an official of the Seamans Union of Australia, including 35 years as the Newcastle branch secretary, until his retirement in December 1987. At the time of his retirement the Newcastle Morning Herald reported:
He has been the union's Federal President since 1959, being re-elected unopposed each time, a member of the Newcastle Trades Hall executive since 1954, and its senior vice-president for 30 years and a delegate to the ACTU congress for the same period.
In retirement John Brennan continued to work for the benefit of his members, serving until recently as national president of the Maritime Union of Australia Veterans Association, ensuring its role as an activist organisation in social and political affairs. John's life experience forged his political and industrial views and gave him the knowledge of the need to organise and the skills of leadership that earned him the respect of union members, industry leaders and the wider community. His strong leadership inspired many people to activism in the union and peace movements.
At an early age John moved with his family from Newcastle upon Tyne to the Sydney waterfront suburb of Pyrmont, where his father went from being a merchant seaman to a waterside worker. His early life was spent beside the waterfront in the period of the Great Depression, when he would have witnessed the struggles of working people in the area. He went to sea as a deck boy at the age of 15 and later served on troopships taking soldiers to the Middle East. At the end of the war he was admitted to the Seaman's Union as an able seaman. John's experiences forged in him a determination to fight for a better deal for the working class through union activity and a dedication to peace and activism, which he carried throughout his life.
The great esteem in which he was held by the union movement was demonstrated today by the attendance at his funeral of the Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Greg Combet, the National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia [MUA], Paddy Crumlin, the National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Doug Cameron, and Mr Nick Tsitsilios, representing the Hellenic League Socrates, a group of Greek men who worked in the maritime industry. In his tribute Nick pointed out that as a waterside watchman he often called upon John Brennan to intervene when Greek seamen in ships visiting Newcastle were living in poor conditions and being paid below a reasonable wage. The strength of the union movement intervened on their behalf.
Also at the funeral service was a huge contingent of his comrades from the MUA and the union movement, and representatives of a broad section of the community. As his great comrade and union colleague Bill Boddenham said of John Brennan at his tribute dinner: "John was very much revered. He was president of a militant waterfront group of unionists and fought many public campaigns on behalf of the community." These included campaigns to gain oncology services at the Mater Hospital in Newcastle, the diabetic unit at Royal Newcastle Hospital, and the return of the public ferry service to Stockton, as well as his lifelong commitment to the peace movement and involvement in so many activities that have benefited the MUA membership, the International Federation of Seamen, and the community of Newcastle and the Hunter region. We pay tribute today to a remarkable man who brought great benefits to our community.
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