John Ducker
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The Honourable John Ducker AO |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales | |
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In office 29 February 1972 – 5 September 1979 |
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| President, Australian Labor Party (New South Wales) | |
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In office 1972–1979 |
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| Succeeded by | Paul Keating |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
29 March 1932 Kingston upon Hull, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 25 November 2005 (aged 73) Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Valerie Ducker |
| Children | 2 (male), 1 (female) |
| Occupation | Union organiser |
John Patrick Ducker AO (29 March 1932 - 25 November 2005), Australian labour leader and politician, played a leading role in the Australian labour movement and the Australian Labor Party for 20 years.
Ducker was born in Kingston upon Hull, in northern England, the son of a bus driver, and worked on the docks from the age of 14. He migrated to Australia with his family in 1950, and became an ironworker and active in the Federated Ironworkers Association, at that time controlled by the Communist Party of Australia. Ducker, a convert to Catholicism, was a strong anti-Communist and became a supporter of B.A. Santamaria's Industrial Groups, which campaigned successfully to overturn the Communist control of the union.
From 1952 Ducker was an official of the union under the new anti-Communist leader, Laurie Short (a non-Catholic). When the Labor Party split in 1955 over the related issues of Communism and the role of Santamaria's "Movement" within the party, Ducker did not follow many other Catholic anti-Communists into the Democratic Labor Party, but remained in the Labor Party, becoming a leading figure in the party's right wing. His characteristic North English accent led to him becoming known as "Broovver Dooker" throughout the movement.
In 1961 Ducker moved from the Ironworkers to the Labor Council of New South Wales, becoming first an organiser and in 1975 becoming Secretary. In 1972 he was appointed a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He was also President of the New South Wales Labor Party and vice-president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. In these positions he supported successive New South Wales Labor leaders such as Pat Hills, Neville Wran and Barrie Unsworth (also a Catholic convert). In 1973 he was the main organiser of the leadership coup which replaced Hills as leader with Wran, who went on to become Premier of New South Wales for ten years.
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