George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A Belfast Pommie, they used to call me. My first act when I got here was to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. My second act was to go and join the union, and I can proudly say that I have been a financial member of that union since 3 March 1965—some 43 years. Hopefully I will continue to be a financial member, if they put me in the retired members association, for the rest of my period on this earth. I think that I have made no mean contribution to the development of the union over the years that I have been a member. I lived in Sydney for some six months. I could not get work on the waterfront in those days; it was going through a bad period. I spent most of my time hustling on pool tables around RSL clubs and so forth to pay the rent. Fortunately for me, in those days I could actually see the ball, so I was not a bad snooker player. I would not pay the rent the way I play these days, I can assure you. I moved to Melbourne in October 1965, worked in the naval dockyards for a period of time and joined the party in Melbourne in 1966. I have been a member of the party ever since.