Donald Grant
Encyclopedia
Donald Grant 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, Donald Grant emigrated in 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:
Donald 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, with was subsequently released in August 1920.
Disillusioned with the IWW hostility to parliamentary politics, Grant was the Industrial Socialist Labor Party
candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
seat of Sturt in the general election of March 1922. He gained less than 3% of the primary vote. Grant joined the Australian Labor Party in 1923. He soon won Labor preselection and was elected to the Sydney City Council for thirteen years. He was appointed by the Annual Conference of the NSW Labor Party to the Socialisation Committee from 1930 to 1933. In 1931 he was appointed to the NSW Legislative Council, where he represented the ALP for ten years.
Turning to Federal politics, Grant was elected in 1943 as a Labor party Senator for NSW, and was an influential member of the Labor Party parliamentary caucus.
At the height of the 1949 Australian coal strike
Grant told the miners:
He had particular interest in international affairs resulted in his selection as an Australian representative to the 1946 Paris Peace conference, a delegate to the International Labor conference in Montreal, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nairobi, Kenya in 1954. At the age of 71 in 1959 he failed to gain endorsement from the Labor party and retired from politics to his Sydney home where he died on 11 June 1970.
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, a member of the Sydney Twelve
Sydney Twelve
The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the Treason Felony Act , arson, sedition and forgery....
charged with conspiracy in 1916, and later a member of the Australian Labor Party
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...
who was elected to Sydney City Council, appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
, and elected to the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
in 1943 where he served for sixteen years.
Born in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1888, Donald Grant emigrated in 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
The Domain, Sydney
The Domain is 34 hectares of open space in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Sydney central business district, near Woolloomooloo. The Domain adjoins the Royal Botanic Gardens and is managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust, a division of the New South...
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!!.
Donald 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, with was subsequently released in August 1920.
Disillusioned with the IWW hostility to parliamentary politics, Grant was the Industrial Socialist Labor Party
Industrial Socialist Labor Party
The Industrial Socialist Labor Party was a short lived socialist political party in Australia in the late 1910s and early 1920s. It was founded by radical socialist members of the industrial wing of the Australian Labor Party , at a time when the ALP's socialist ideology was a matter of intra-party...
candidate for 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...
seat of Sturt in the general election of March 1922. He gained less than 3% of the primary vote. Grant joined the Australian Labor Party in 1923. He soon won Labor preselection and was elected to the Sydney City Council for thirteen years. He was appointed by the Annual Conference of the NSW Labor Party to the Socialisation Committee from 1930 to 1933. In 1931 he was appointed to the NSW Legislative Council, where he represented the ALP for ten years.
Turning to Federal politics, Grant was elected in 1943 as a Labor party Senator for NSW, and was an influential member of the Labor Party parliamentary caucus.
At the height of the 1949 Australian coal strike
1949 Australian coal strike
The 1949 Australian coal strike is the first time that Australian military forces were used during peacetime to break a Trade union strike. The strike by 23,000 coal miners lasted for seven weeks, from 27 June 1949 to 15 August 1949, with troops being sent in by the Ben Chifley Federal Labor...
Grant told the miners:
- I come to Cessnock for one reason. In 1917...everyone was behind the workers [in the general strike], but they got beaten. Why? Because the State was against them. I have come here to tell you you won't beat the State.
He had particular interest in international affairs resulted in his selection as an Australian representative to the 1946 Paris Peace conference, a delegate to the International Labor conference in Montreal, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nairobi, Kenya in 1954. At the age of 71 in 1959 he failed to gain endorsement from the Labor party and retired from politics to his Sydney home where he died on 11 June 1970.