Jim Curran
Encyclopedia
James Lawrence Curran (15 April 1927 - 18 May 2005) was an Australia
n politician. He was an Australian Labor Party
member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
from 1980 to 1981, representing the electorate of Castlereagh
.
Curran was born in Gilgandra
, and raised on a farm sixteen kilometres from the town. He later attended boarding school at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, and won a scholarship to attend Armidale Teachers College. He taught variously in Moree
, Bourke
, Sydney
, and the United Kingdom
. He later gave up teaching and returned to Gilgandra, where he bought a farm, specialising in sheep, beef and wheat. He became heavily involved in the local farming community, serving as secretary and president of the United Farmers and Woolgrowers Association in Gilgandra, and being an active member of several farming and breeding groups. He was also a farming commentator for the local ABC station for a period. In 1972, he returned to teaching, taking up a position as library adviser to the Western Area for the Department of Education.
In 1977, Curran became the private secretary to the local MLA, then Treasurer and former Premier Jack Renshaw
. Renshaw had been in state parliament for four decades and a senior political figure for three of those, and had long managed to hold the conservative-leaning country seat. Renshaw resigned from parliament in January 1980, and endorsed Curran as his successor at the resulting by-election. Curran retained the seat for Labor after a fiercely-contested campaign, but a redistribution before the 1981 state election
severely weakened his hold on the seat when he ran for a full term. The redistribution had moved a large amount of traditionally Country Party-voting territory into Castlereagh, and abolished the adjacent seat of Country Party MLA Roger Wotton
. Wotton instead contested Castlereagh, and on the new boundaries, succeeded in ousting Curran from the seat.
Curran remained involved in public life after his parliamentary defeat, serving as Manager of Industrial Promotion for New South Wales in New York, and later as the Assistant Commissioner for Western Lands. He died at Gilgandra in 2005.
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...
n politician. He was an 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...
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 1980 to 1981, representing the electorate of Castlereagh
Electoral district of Castlereagh
Castlereagh was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales originally created in 1904, partly replacing Coonamble and named after the Castlereagh River. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Wammerawa,...
.
Curran was born in Gilgandra
Gilgandra, New South Wales
Gilgandra, is a town and Local Government Area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the junction of the Newell Highway, Oxley Highway and Castlereagh Highway. It can be reached in about six hours by car from Sydney. Like Coonabarabran, Gilgandra can be...
, and raised on a farm sixteen kilometres from the town. He later attended boarding school at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, and won a scholarship to attend Armidale Teachers College. He taught variously in Moree
Moree, New South Wales
Moree is a large town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River in the centre of the rich black-soil plains....
, Bourke
Bourke, New South Wales
-Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...
, 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...
, and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He later gave up teaching and returned to Gilgandra, where he bought a farm, specialising in sheep, beef and wheat. He became heavily involved in the local farming community, serving as secretary and president of the United Farmers and Woolgrowers Association in Gilgandra, and being an active member of several farming and breeding groups. He was also a farming commentator for the local ABC station for a period. In 1972, he returned to teaching, taking up a position as library adviser to the Western Area for the Department of Education.
In 1977, Curran became the private secretary to the local MLA, then Treasurer and former Premier Jack Renshaw
Jack Renshaw
John Brophy "Jack" Renshaw AC was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965.-Early life:...
. Renshaw had been in state parliament for four decades and a senior political figure for three of those, and had long managed to hold the conservative-leaning country seat. Renshaw resigned from parliament in January 1980, and endorsed Curran as his successor at the resulting by-election. Curran retained the seat for Labor after a fiercely-contested campaign, but a redistribution before the 1981 state election
New South Wales state election, 1981
Elections were held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 19 September 1981. The result was a second "Wranslide": a landslide victory for the Australian Labor Party under Neville Wran, in which the government increased its already sizeable majority.The Liberals suffered the double...
severely weakened his hold on the seat when he ran for a full term. The redistribution had moved a large amount of traditionally Country Party-voting territory into Castlereagh, and abolished the adjacent seat of Country Party MLA Roger Wotton
Roger Wotton
Roger Corfield Anson Wotton is a former Australian politician. He was the Country Party member for Burrendong from 1968 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1981, and then for Castlereagh from 1981 to 1991 in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.Wotton was born in Ardlethan, New South Wales, and attended...
. Wotton instead contested Castlereagh, and on the new boundaries, succeeded in ousting Curran from the seat.
Curran remained involved in public life after his parliamentary defeat, serving as Manager of Industrial Promotion for New South Wales in New York, and later as the Assistant Commissioner for Western Lands. He died at Gilgandra in 2005.