Jack Cremean

Who was Jack Cremean?

John Lawrence "Jack" Cremean was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he was educated at Catholic schools before becoming a clerk. He was secretary to federal Labor minister Arthur Calwell from 1942–45, secretary of the Fire Brigades Employees Union 1945-48, and also sat on Richmond City Council. In 1945, Cremean's brother Bert Cremean died after surgery, and Jack was elected as a Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Clifton Hill in the resulting by-election, where he remained until 1949. In that year, he transferred to federal politics, winning the new seat of Hoddle in the Australian House of Representatives. In 1955, Cremean was one of seven MPs who left the ALP and formed the Australian Labor Party, the precursor to the Democratic Labor Party. Cremean's seat of Hoddle was abolished for the 1955 election, so he contested its successor, Scullin, as an Anti-Communist, but was defeated by the Labor candidate, Ted Peters, the member for Burke. Cremean died in 1982.