Donald Grant
| Donald Grant | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Senator for New South Wales | |
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In office 1 July 1944 – 30 June 1959 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 February 1888 Inverness, Scotland |
| Died | 11 June 1970 (aged 82) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Nationality | Scottish Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Occupation | Unionist, activist |
Donald MacLennan Grant (26 February 1888 – 11 June 1970) was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World in Sydney, Australia, a member of the Sydney Twelve charged with conspiracy in 1916, and later a member of the Australian Labor Party who was elected to Sydney City Council, appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, and elected to the Australian Senate in 1943 where he served for sixteen years.
Born in Inverness, Scotland in 1888, Grant emigrated to Australia prior to the First World War. He joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and became known as one of their best public speakers, regularly drawing large crowds at The Domain, Sydney speaking against conscription, and for militant direct action against the war and capitalism. Tom Barker, the editor of the IWW newspaper Direct Action, was arrested, convicted and sentenced to six months prison for publishing the famous anti-war poster, which said:
To ARMS! Capitalists, Parsons, Politicians, Landlords, Newspaper Editors, and other Stay-at-home Patriots. Your Country needs you in the trenches! Workers, Follow your masters!
Grant is reported to have told the crowd at the Sydney Domain that for every day that Barker is in gaol, it will cost the capitalists 10,000 pounds. These fifteen words formed the large part of the case against him in 1916 when he was arrested and charged as part of the Sydney Twelve with arson, conspiracy to prevent justice and incitement to sedition. He received a sentence of fifteen years, which inspired Henry Boote, editor of The Worker to write The case of Grant, Fifteen years for Fifteen Words. Agitation for a review of the case and the release of all twelve prisoners started immediately and included a Royal Commission which found that Grant had been wrongly convicted. He was subsequently released in August 1920.
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