Ernest Charles O'Dea
{{Short description|Australian politician (1889–1976)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder |
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name=Ernest Charles O'Dea
| image= Ernest Charles O'Dea.jpg
| order=69th Lord Mayor of Sydney
| term_start=1 January 1949
| term_end=9 December 1952
| deputy = John James Carroll
Jack Byrne
| predecessor=Reg Bartley
| successor= Pat Hills
| order1= Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
| term_start1=23 April 1943
| term_end1=22 April 1967
| predecessor1=
| successor1=
| birth_date={{Birth date|1889|2|19|df=y}}
| birth_place=Armidale, Colony of New South Wales
| death_date={{death date and age|1976|11|21|1889|2|19|df=y}}
| death_place=Gladesville, New South Wales, Australia
| spouse=
| party=ALP
}}
Ernest Charles O'Dea (19 February 1889 – 21 November 1976) was an Australian trade union official, Labor Party politician, Lord Mayor of Sydney and Member of the New South Wales Parliament.
Early life
O'Dea was born in Armidale in 1889 and moved to Sydney with his family as a child.
Career
O'Dea entered the retail trade and moved rapidly through the trade union ranks whilst in his twenties. He served as a Sydney Municipal Council Alderman for two periods (1924–1927 and 1930–1965) and was elected Lord Mayor of Sydney in 1948 for four years.{{cite web|title=Ernest Charles O'Dea|url=http://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/ernest-odea/|website=Sydney's Aldermen|publisher=City of Sydney|accessdate=4 March 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2780744 |title=Alderman O'Dea Is Lord Mayor |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=23 |issue=6,768 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=15 December 1948 |accessdate=4 March 2017 |page=1 |via=Trove}} He served two twelve-year terms in the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1942 and 1967. He was also a member of Sydney County Council between 1935 and 1959 and its chairman from 1958 to 1959.[http://www.parlpapers.sl.nsw.gov.au/display.cfm?parl_id=14600 Ernest Charles O'Dea.] Parliament Papers, NSW State Parliament.
He was an advocate of compulsory unionism and equal pay, and was an opponent of Saturday retail trading and late-night shopping, all major issues in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a vehement anti-communist and fought against communist influence in trade unions and other industrial organisations.
Later life
O'Dea died in 1976 at St George Hospital in Sydney, after suffering a cerebral aneurysm in 1966. He was survived by a son from his first marriage and a son and stepdaughter of his second marriage.{{Cite NSW Parliament |name=The Hon. Ernest Charles O'DEA (1889 - 1976) |former=Yes |access-date=30 April 2019 |id=1482}}
Legacy
O'Dea is remembered by O'Dea Avenue in Zetland[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150600b.htm O'Dea, Ernest Charles] Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. Accessed 2 August 2008. and O'Dea Park in Camperdown.
References
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{{succession box|title=Lord Mayor of Sydney|before=Reg Bartley|after=Pat Hills| years=1948 – 1952}}
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{{s-bef| before= Frank Joyce }}
{{s-ttl |title= Chairman of the Sydney County Council | years =1958 – 1959 }}
{{s-aft|after= William Murray}}
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Category:Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney
Category:Australian Labor Party mayors
Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Category:20th-century Australian politicians
Category:Councillors of Sydney County Council
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