On 14 January 2026, Joe Alexander, life member of the ALP, passed on. Joe was born on 13 January 1929 in Larras Lee. At 14, Joe left school to help his family pay the bills. This pattern of stepping up for the good of others would persist throughout Joe's life. Working as a farmhand, he learned to become a gun shearer, always at the top of the tally book, and known all over for shearing up to 230 sheep per day for 10 days straight. He could even crutch 1,200 sheep per day. In 1946, he joined the Australian Workers' Union, moved to Coonamble, where he married Dorothy McConnell. They raised three children: Leslie, who is deceased, Robert and Alison.

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