Bill Galvin

Who was Bill Galvin?

Leslie William "Bill" Galvin was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Bendigo from 1945 to 1955 when he was defeated at the state election, then regained the seat in 1958 until 1964.

Galvin was born in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, and was educated at Petersham Commercial School until his family moved to Melbourne, where he continued his education at Scotch College. He became involved in the trade union movement while apprenticed as a fitter and turner with the Victorian Railways in Bendigo, and served on the local Trades Hall councils and branches of the Australian Railways Union.

In 1939, Galvin was elected to the Bendigo City Council, and was Mayor of Bendigo from 1944 to 1945. He then considered a tilt at federal politics, but was convinced by his friend, John Cain, to nominate for the 1945 Bendigo state by-election triggered by the death of Arthur Cook. Duly elected, Galvin was made President of the Board of Land and Works, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey and Minister for Water Supply in the Second Cain Ministry after Labor won the 1945 election. Following the defeat of the Cain government in 1947, Galvin was voted deputy leader of the Labor Party in Victoria.