Vale Cobber

Jeff "Staunch" Gray: Tragic Death

23 May 1958 - 23rd June 2003

It is with a heavy heart that I report the tragic and sudden loss of our mate, Jeff to an industrial accident at Appleton Dock, Melbourne aboard the M.V. Kiribati Chief on June 23.

Staunch is a description that is often loosely bandied around the waterfront to describe characters. But in Jeff's case he was no "part-time" unionist, he set a benchmark to which we should all aspire.

Jeff had time for all and delivered with a smile. He never faltered in his devotion to his family, union and mates.

Mate, your funeral was a glowing tribute to a man loved and admired by an enormous group of people from all walks of life.

Jeff, you will be forever missed by all who knew you.

The MUA is diminished by your passing.

Steve O'Shannessy

Union No: 5008838

Chris Givnan: Terrific Fella

It is my sad duty to inform you all of the passing of our great friend and shipmate, Chris Givnan. For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Chris, I don't have to tell you what a terrific fella he was and how much he was respected within the marine/offshore industry.

For those of you who didn't there is a lasting legacy of Chris hanging over the galley slide. I had the honour of being a close personal friend of Chris for over 20 years and in that time I found him to be one of nature's true gentlemen and honest as the day is long.

Chris was a seaman first and foremost, having shipped out of Liverpool as a young lad, eventually shipping out of New Zealand until he finally called Australia home.

Chris's many tales of his experiences all around the world are legendary and humourous to say the least.

He was one of the most experienced seamen I have ever had the good fortune to work with and had a reputation of nurturing young sailors and passing on his vast knowledge to them.

Cossack Pioneer was Chris's last ship before he swallowed the anchor and retired to Queensland with his lovely wife Donna, where they planned to spend the rest of their lives in their ideal paradise, with their love of art and horses.

Chris's world was his undying love for Donna and, of course, his passion for art and country and western music.

To Donna we send our heartfelt commiserations. To you Chris, farewell comrade. We will never forget you.Happy sailing mate.

Garry Smith

Cossak Pioneer.

Donald (Jock) MacDonald: Fine Seafarer

Yet another of those old time members who were coal burning firemen, some of whom preferred coal to oil fired or motor vessels, has passed away.

Donald (Jock) Macdonald spent around 50 years on Australian vessels after coming here from his native Scotland. He was a quiet man, a very good shipmate and loyal to his union and to all who sailed with him.

After retiring he lived in the seafarers' complex in South Dowling Street and then in the Mariners Court at The 'Loo. When that establishment went "belly up" for want of patronage, he and a few others moved to apartments at Hornsby, where they were all happy, and that is where Jock became ill and succumbed to that hell of all diseases.

In later years I didn't see much of Jock, but I know he loved to place his investments at the nearby TAB, then go to the club and enjoy watching the races.

A funeral service for Jock was conducted by Reverend Tom Hill at The Mission to Seafarers and the ceremony was taped and sent to his family in Scotland. All in all it was a fitting farewell to a fine seafarer.

Jock Auld

Retired Life Member

Tommy Kinnel: Skilled Seaman

Tommy Kinnel crossed the bar in June. Tommy, age 76, was an AB who served on American small ships then on the coast. He shipped out of Sydney under the "bull system" then the pick up. He had his fair share of iron boats, sixty milers and other vessels. He was a skilled seaman, respected militant unionist and good shipmate. I was with Tommy for a number of years on the Australian Emblem in the 80's. At the time he was living in Peak Hill Central NSW farming district. His yarns of life among the "Cockys" kept us very much amused. He also had a great repertoire of sea shanties, his lusty rendition of New York Gals Can You Dance the Polka would attract an enthusiastic audience. He was proud of being awarded the "Golden Spud" for speed spud peeling against expert spud barbers.

He took the first redundancy package and retired to the North Coast of NSW, lately in the Grafton area. He underwent chemotherapy for leukemia and it appeared he had overcome it. He was taken ill and into Grafton Hospital, then transferred to a Sydney Hospital where he died on June 30.

He was still interested in the Union and seafaring and welcomed the journal. He kept in touch with old shipmates Ray Verdy and Carl Joele. They had occasional get togethers to swing the lamps.

Tommy was a good reliable shipmate and friend who will be missed by family and friends.

In the words of one of Tommy's shanties, "tell me old shipmates, I've just taken a trip mates and I'll see you all on Fiddler's Green."

Vale Tommy Kinnel

Rad (Raddy Harrison)

Life Member No. 993.

Con Staunton: Lifelong Mate

I wish to report the death of Mr Con Staunton, an ex-member of the Seamen's Union of Australia. He lived in Forster NSW and died there in hospital towards the end of May. He was 78 years of age.

I first met Con in 1944 on a ship and we remained friends always, kept contact until his end.

"Yogi" Ralfs

Gosford

Tas Bull: Old Class

Globalisation has again failed to serve the interest of the working class, as in Port Vila - Vanuatu, we had not heard of the death of Tas until I read this special tribute to a comrade indeed.

Tas was from the old class of Australian left wing unionists who rode the mighty waves of imperialism but never forgot those of us who clung to the hem of their shirts searching for our inalienable rights.

I know I speak for many of us from the small Pacific Islands who had the pleasure of knowing Tas when I say he has been missed and his shoes will be hard to fill but let his lead be a light for all of us to follow in these days of neo-colonialism.

Ephraim Kalsakau

Vanuatu National Workers' Union

John Burgess JB: Last Goodbye

Nothing could've hit me harder than to hear of the passing of a man who I looked up to in all aspects of life.

J.B. was like an uncle to me, his words of wisdom will stay with me forever. Well, Dig, this is it, the last goodbye.

For now you are a son of the sea!

Travis Thickens

Union No. 2222

Jim Robertson: Poll Clerk

It is with regret that I inform you that retired member James Frederick Robertson (medal number 2058) passed away on August 21, aged 81 years, in Tweed Heads Hospital surrounded by his family.

Jim was a staunch unionist both on the waterfront and previously in the printing industry. He also assisted in the union elections as a poll clerk for many years.

He is survived by his widow Doreen, three daughters, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Greg Jehn

Blacksmiths NSW 2281

Peter Walker: Shipmate

It is with regret that I inform members that Peter Walker recently passed away, after an eight month battle with cancer, aged 56.

Peter's life was the sea. He shipped out on the New Zealand coast in the early sixties and moved to the Australian coast in the early seventies.

After a brief stint ashore, Peter returned to the sea to work on scallop boats and river cruise boats in the Port of Melbourne.

Peter's last known ships were the Australian Explorer and Esso Gippsland.

He is survived by his wife Sue and two stepsons Danny and Patrick.

His ashes were scattered from the tug Flinders in the Yarra River on Saturday September 20.

Paul Burke

Union No: 3169

Eddy Austin: True Shipmate

Edwin Austin, known to all and sundry around the coast as Fast Eddy, has died. I first met Eddy in the early seventies in a place called Santos in South America. I was on a home boat and Eddy was on a Scandinavian ship. He came on board the home boat looking for a feed as the food was rubbish on the Danish ship. We thought he was joking. When we showed Eddy some of our gastronomic delights, he felt sorry for us and took us back to his ship for a feed . The meals on the Dane were not that bad after all.

I next ran into Eddy (literally) a few months after, when I had paid off, at anchor House Seamen's Club in London. And we have been friends ever since.

Eddy came into the union in the early sixties and sailed on everything that went to sea from deck boy to IR. He was always at demos, stopwork meetings.

He passed away at Geelong Hospital in August.

Eddy was a true shipmate, a good unionist and a sincere friend who will be sadly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.

As Eddy would say he has gone to that big iron boat in the sky. Farewell mate.

Sean & Bill Breen

Union No: 58 & 1122

Bill Donnelly: 'Most Dangerous Man in Darwin'

The first thing you noticed when you visited Bill Donnelly's house in suburban Darwin was the small bust of Lenin on his bookshelf. The second thing you discovered about Bill was that he was very proud of the fact that he was born in 1917, the same year as the Russian Revolution. These two facts give you a fairly clear idea of Bill's politics.

Born in Ireland, he arrived in Australia as an 11-year old orphan. He was attracted to the Communist Party as a young timber worker in the Gippsland forests in eastern Victoria and he remained committed to the cause right up until his death early this year in Darwin hospital after developing complications from a fall at his home.

Bill, however, will be mostly remembered as a leading identity in the post World War labour movement in Darwin (and as an active member of the Waterside Workers' Federation).

He arrived in Darwin in 1946 and got a job removing star pickets that had been dug into the shoreline as a defence against a possible Japanese invasion. It was very hard work in the hot and steamy conditions in Australia's tropical north.

At that time, the Darwin unions were still very weak after having been suppressed by the military authorities that administered Darwin during the war. In those days Darwin was an undeveloped frontier town with a small population.

Perhaps Bill found the town too crowded because he then moved 300 kilometres south to the smaller settlement of Katherine. From 1948 until 1953 he worked at the town's powerhouse where he soon attracted the attention of security forces and was labelled a "most dangerous" communist.

Soon after leaving Katherine, he secured a job on the Darwin waterfront where he stayed until his retirement.

"Wild Bill", as he became known in some circles, became a leading figure in the often stormy battles of the Darwin union movement, especially during the bitter fights between the left and the anti-communist "Groupers" in the early 1950s.

Bill would have cut a striking figure at union meetings with his dark complexion, long black hair and thick glasses. He was nicknamed "Tarzan" by some of the young women in Darwin.

He even earned the grudging respect of a local ASIO agent who described him as a "fluent and convincing speaker" who was "popular" on the waterfront. This is probably why that same ASIO agent described him as the "most dangerous man in Darwin."

Donnelly was involved in many campaigns during his time in Darwin including fighting for the rights of indentured Malay pearl divers. In 1955, Donnelly and others hid a pearl diver from the authorities for a number of weeks at a remote camp in Arnhem Land. The diver had been involved in an industrial dispute with his employer and as a result was being deported to Singapore.

For a number of years, Donnelly acted as wharf Vigilance Officer, a full-time union position on the wharf funded by a levy on all waterside workers.

During his time on the wharf, the waterside workers were also strong supporters of campaigns by Aboriginal people to gain citizenship rights.

Donnelly travelled to Sydney in 1962 to report to the Waterside Workers' Federation conference about the local campaign to defend Peter Australia, an Aboriginal wharfie who had been jailed for 12 months for giving an Aboriginal friend a glass of wine. The campaign was successful and Peter Australia was granted early release by Federal Cabinet after serving four months of his term.

This campaign was part of a movement which eventually forced the Federal Government to act and citizenship rights were extended to Aboriginal people throughout the 60's.

In recent years Bill's mobility was restricted due to ill health but he was still often seen at Darwin demonstrations if he was able to grab a lift with a wharfie mate.

He remained a member of the Socialist (now Communist) Party of Australia and he continued to read. His last note to me was a short message in a 2002 Christmas card decrying the destruction of the Amazon River.

With Bill's death, the Darwin Labour movement lost one of the last living links with its radical and colourful past. Bill died last summer, his simple coffin draped in a red flag as he had requested for his cremation.

Bernie Brian

Darwin Union Historian

Ted Tuckwell: A Tribute

More than 200 seamen, wharfies, and friends attended the service for Ted Tuckwell who passed away at home in August.

Ted, aged 70, spent a lifetime in the maritime industry, at first sailing out of Port Kembla in iron boats and river class ships prior to shifting to South Australia. Ted sailed out of Port Adelaide at the beginning of the 1950s. He was in various coastal ships before joining the SA Tugs as an A/B.

Some years later he gained a state masters certificate and eventually was offered a position as mate with the tug company, to be later promoted to tug master. Ted was a very capable tug master. He retired in 1991, and during his retirement had to cope with many health problems, but never complained. Bingo days for Ted and wife Dawn were special events that they enjoyed together.

Ted and Dawn had three children, daughter Belen, Keven, and Steven. Two of the children had salt water running through their veins. Belen a Petty Officer in the R.A.N. Keven a seagoing member of the M.U.A.

Ted was a good unionist, and a good friend to many. He loved a beer and a punt on the horses, being involved with a syndicate which leased a couple of horses that won a few races.

Ted's words to his son Keven when he decided to go to sea were "always make it your first priority to be a financial member of the union". No better advice could he have given.

Ted was laid to rest at Cheltenham cemetery. Vale Comrade

Bill MacGinnes

(Life Member)

Terry McGrath: Hookey

The Melbourne Branch are sad to advise that Terry McGrath (Hookey) passed away suddenly on Saturday 16th August at home. Terry's last place of employment was BSC Webb Dock. Condolences from the Branch also go to Terry's family.

Frank Bills: Workers' Champ

It is with regret that I inform fellow comrades of the passing of Frank Bills on July 7 aged 70.

Frank began his seagoing career in the late 60's and retired to Broomes Head on the north coast in 1993.

His outgoing nature, strong character and optimistic outlook held him in good stead with shipmates, friends and acquaintances alike. Frank was a proud and staunch union member and championed the cause of the working class. The ships he sailed on included the Dolby, Darling River, John Hunter and the Iron Barron.

A very large crowd of family and friends attended his funeral followed by a celebration of his life at Maclean Bowling Club where there were many yarns told and quite a few refreshments consumed which is the only way he would have wanted it.

He is sadly missed by all.

Rest in peace dad.

Frank Bills Jnr.

Union No. 3416

Vere (Occa) Jones: Loving Brother

Occa first went to sea on the River Glenelg shipping out of Newcastle in 1948. He had several ships during his 12 years at sea. He then went to work on the dredges and finished his working life on the Pilot Boats before retiring 12 years ago. He has been sick for about 18 months and died on August 3, 2003 at Courtman Hall in Newcastle. He was a loving brother and a good friend. He will be sadly missed. His ashes were scattered at sea.

David Jones (Spider)

Book No. 3359

Notice to members:

Contributions for next MWJ should be submitted before November 10. We regret that some letters and obituaries have been held over to the next edition.

Correction: The late Bill William's retirement date was incorrectly reported as 1963 on p34 of last MWJ. Bill did not retire until 1983.

We apologise for the error.