George Weatherill (politician)

{{Short description|Australian politician (1936–2021)}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = George Weatherill

|honorific-suffix =

|office = Member of the South Australian Legislative Council

|term_start = 11 February 1986

|term_end = 1 September 2000

|party = Labor Party

|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1936|10|1}}

|birth_place = Hartlepool, County Durham, England

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2021|1|23|1936|10|1}}

|death_place = Adelaide, Australia

|profession = wharf labourer, union official, member of parliament

|children = Jay Weatherill

|}}

George Weatherill (1 October 1936 – 23 January 2021)[https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/south-australia/jay-weatherills-father-george-weatherill-has-died-aged-84-in-the-royal-adelaide-hospital/news-story/7a7f8c4c34c7cff216457f7e33b41380 George Weatherill: Labor great dies in Adelaide aged 84] {{subscription required}} was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the South Australian Labor Party. From 1986 until 2000 he represented the Labor Party in the South Australian Legislative Council.{{Cite SA-parl|pid=2574|name=Hon George Weatherill|former=yes|access-date=20 December 2022}}

Weatherill came from England's industrial north. In Australia, he stacked wool on Port Adelaide's wharves before becoming an official with the Australian Government Workers Association (AGWA). He was the father of Jay Weatherill who was Premier of South Australia between 2011 and 2018.{{cite news|last=Debelle|first=Penelope|title=Smooth operator Jay Weatherill is ready for top job|url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/smooth-operator-jay-weatherill-is-ready-for-top-job/story-e6frea83-1226106271957|newspaper=The Advertiser|date=2 August 2011}}

Highly respected as an effective negotiator and organiser he was instrumental in 'cleaning up' aspects of the AGWA administration which was adversely affected by the "Thompson" affair – whereby the former AGWA Secretary absconded with union funds.