Rex Jackson

Jackson was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, the son of a railway fettler. He was educated at Harefield Public School and Junee, and Sutherland High Schools. He married his wife, Irene, in 1949.{{cite news|url=http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=%22rex+jackson%22&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news930710_0267_9300# | title=Rex and the Good Life|work=The Sun-Herald |date=10 July 1993|access-date=2 January 2012 |author=Tarrant, Deborah }}

Jackson was a rail employee, professional boxer and printer. He was the member for Bulli from 1955 to 1971, and the member for Heathcote from 1971 to 1986, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for Youth and Community Services from May 1976 to October 1981. Under his tenure, the department began funding youth refuges located in NSW, including Caretakers Cottage, Young People's Refuge and Taldamunde Youth Services.Coffey, Michael. [http://www.drbilldayanthropologist.com/resources/Freedom%20to%20Sleep.pdf "What Ever Happened to the Revolution? Activism and the Early Days of Youth Refuges in NSW."] Parity. Volume 19, Issue 10. Another Country: Histories of Homelessness. Council to Homeless Persons. (2006): 23-25.

Jackson was then Minister for Corrective Services from October 1981 to October 1983. He was also Minister for Roads from February to October 1983.{{Cite NSW Parliament |title=Mr Rex Frederick Jackson (1928–2011) |id=1878 |former=Yes |access-date=13 May 2019}} He resigned his ministerial portfolios on 27 October 1983 and from parliament on 13 August 1986. He was charged with corruption and sent to trial in 1987. The District Court found that Jackson accepted a bribe of {{AUD}}12,000 in 1983 and that he conspired to organise the early release of three prisoners from Broken Hill Correctional Centre to meet gambling debts. He was initially sentenced to serve seven and a half years in custody (with three years without parole). However, in 1988 The Crown appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal against the leniency of the sentence. Jackson was subsequently sent to prison for ten years, with a non-parole period of five years,{{cite book |title =Report on investigation into the Silverwater filling operation |publisher=Independent Commission Against Corruption |date=1 February 1990 |url =http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/dmdocuments/pub2_3i.htm |access-date=5 January 2012 |isbn=0-7305-7436-9}}R v Jackson (1988) 33 A Crim R 413, Court of Criminal Appeal (NSW). {{URL|1=http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=(1988)%2033%20A%20Crim%20R%20413|2=LawCite search}}. serving time at Berrima Correctional Centre.

Following his early release from prison in November 1990, after serving three years and two months of his 10-year term, he returned to his Helensburgh home and was welcomed back by many in his community.{{cite news |last1=Macey |first1=Richard |title=Back Home in Helensburgh, Rex Jackson is Still a Hero |url=http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=%22rex+jackson%22&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news901110_0063_1423 |access-date=2020-10-15 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=1990-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823061520/http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=%22rex+jackson%22&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news901110_0063_1423 |archive-date=2011-08-23}}

For some years, Jackson operated an ice cream van with business partner Col Alexander, called "Col and Rex's Hot Dogs and Ice Cream" which regularly parked at the top of Bald Hill, a popular hang-gliding spot in Stanwell Tops, south of Sydney. Jackson's wife Irene suffered from arthritis and diabetes, and had a stroke just six weeks after his homecoming. She was hospitalised and then placed in a nursing home, dying in early 1993.

Jackson died on 31 December 2011, aged 83.{{cite news |title=Time runs out for disgraced prisons minister |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 January 2012 |url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/time-runs-out-for-disgraced-prisons-minister-20120101-1ph9s.html |access-date=2 January 2012 }}

• {{cite book |first=Bob |last=Bottom |title=Without Fear or Favour |publisher=Sun Books Pty Limited |location=Melbourne |year=1984 |isbn=0-7251-0453-8 |chapter=A Minister Resigns }}
• {{cite web|author1=Whitton, Evan|title=Two Cases That Raised Queries|url=http://netk.net.au/Whitton/Worms20.asp|website=netk.net.au|access-date=5 September 2014}}

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{{succession box | title=Member for Bulli | before=Lawrence Kelly | after=Seat abolished | years=1955–1971}}

{{succession box | title=Member for Heathcote | before=New seat | after=Ian McManus | years=1971–1986}}

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Category:1928 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

Category:People from Wagga Wagga

Category:Australian politicians convicted of crimes

Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales

Category:Ministers for corrections (New South Wales)