Bill Crabtree was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 from 1953 until 1983 and represented the ALP

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

.

Crabtree was born in Marrickville

Marrickville, New South Wales

Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney's Inner West is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia and is the largest suburb in the Marrickville Council local government area...

. He was the son of an engineer and was educated to intermediate level at Kogarah High School

Kogarah High School

Kogarah High School is a comprehensive co-educational school located in Kogarah NSW- Sport houses :Kogarah High School has a long history of student achievement both academically and on the sporting field...

. He joined the ALP in 1931 and worked as a public servant initially for the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

. He was an office-holder in the Australian Railways Union

Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union

The Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union , formerly known as the Public Transport Union or PTU, was formed on 1 March 1993, through the amalgamation of the Australian Railways Union, the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen, the Australian Tramway & Motor Omnibus Employees'...

 and the private secretary to Clive Evatt

Clive Evatt

Clive Evatt QC was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the Industrial Labor Party, ALP and as an independent.-Early life:Evatt was born in Maitland and was the...

 from 1947 until his entry into parliament

Crabtree defeated Douglas Cross

Douglas Cross

Douglas Donald Cross was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1948 until 1953 and from 1956 until his death . He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia....

 the incumbent member for the seat of Kogarah

Electoral district of Kogarah

Kogarah is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's St George district. It is represented by Cherie Burton of the Australian Labor Party.-History:...

 at the 1953 election

New South Wales state election, 1953

The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

. He retained the seat for the Labor Party at the next 10 elections.

In the government of Neville Wran

Neville Wran

Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...

 he was Minister for Lands between 1976 and 1980 and Minister for Police

New South Wales Ministry for Police

The New South Wales Ministry for Police is a ministry of the Government of New South Wales. It has responsibility for three government agencies:*New South Wales Crime Commission*New South Wales Police*New South Wales Police Integrity Commission...

from 1980 to 1981.