Les McMahon

{{short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Les McMahon

| honorific-suffix =

| image = James Leslie McMahon.jpg

| caption = James Leslie McMahon

| constituency_MP = Sydney

| parliament = Australian

| majority =

| predecessor = Jim Cope

| successor = Peter Baldwin

| term_start = 13 December 1975

| term_end = 4 February 1983

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1930|2|26}}

| birth_place = Sydney

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2015|01|23|1930|02|26}}

| death_place = Sydney

| nationality = Australian

| spouse = Patricia Kathleen Wellings

| party = Australian Labor Party

| relations =

| children =

| residence = Forest Lodge, Sydney

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Plumber

| profession =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

James Leslie "Les" McMahon (26 February 1930 – 23 January 2015) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he was a plumber, gasfitter and drainer and then an organiser for the Plumbers and Gasfitters Employees Union of Australia (NSW branch). He was elected to Sydney City Council in 1967, Leichhardt City Council in 1968, and Sydney City Council again in 1971.

In 1975, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Sydney, a position he held until his retirement in 1983 after being deselected for the seat in favour of Peter Baldwin.{{cite web|last=Carr |first=Adam |title=Australian Election Archive |work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |year=2008 |accessdate=25 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717093439/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/ |archivedate=17 July 2007 }}{{cite web | url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/australian-labor-party-anthony-albanese-new-south-wales-right-wing-politics |title=Labor's Anthony Albanese Is Not a Friend of Australia's Left — And He Never Was |last=Daniel |first=Nicholas |date=13 November 2020 |website=Jacobin |access-date=17 November 2020}} During that time in Parliament, he had two full-time staff, he was on three Parliamentary Committees for Labor, namely, the Industry and Works Committee, Health Committee and Urban Committee. McMahon was also on three joint Parliamentary Committees in the Commonwealth Parliament, House of Parliament Committee, Road Safety Committee and Public Works Committee (where he was appointed Deputy President). McMahon was also the Deputy Chair of the Labor Caucus and Deputy Whip in Parliament. A few months after retiring from Politics in 1983, he was employed as a Commissioner of the NSW Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, where he remained until he retired from work in 1993.{{cite web | url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20131121182?open&refNavID=HA8_1 | title=James Leslie Mcmahon, a Former Federal Member for Sydney | publisher=Parliament of New South Wales | accessdate=28 February 2015}}

On 11 February 2015, the Australian Federal Parliament observed a moment of silence in honor of McMahon following his death.{{cite web | url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=james%20mcmahon;rec=1;resCount=Default | title=CONDOLENCES: McMahon , Mr James Leslie (Les) | publisher=Parliament of Australia | date=10 February 2015 | accessdate=28 February 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126061619/http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=james+mcmahon;rec=1;resCount=Default | archive-date=26 January 2018 | url-status=dead }} The current sitting Labor member of the Federal seat of Sydney, Ms Tanya Plibersek described McMahon as "a man of strong convictions" and quoted:{{cite web | url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=les%20mcmahon;rec=0;resCount=Default | title=ADJOURNMEN: McMahon , Mr Les , Enderby, Hon. Keppel Earl, QC | publisher=Parliament of Australia | date=11 February 2015 | accessdate=28 February 2015}}

{{cquote|McMahon's loyalty remained always to the Labor Party. It is a measure of the man that, when he was defeated as a sitting member in a preselection, he handed out for the winning candidate on election day. He was a dedicated and committed local member. He was accessible and proud of the urban renewal legacy left by the Whitlam government. The people of Sydney owe a great deal to McMahon's enthusiastic and energetic championing of their interests.}}