Date of Birth: 26/07/1930
Place of Birth: Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia
Date of Death: 09/08/2017
Place of Death: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
25 Mar 1995 |
04 Sep 2001 |
6 years 5 months 11 days |
|
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
30 Apr 1984 |
03 Mar 1995 |
10 years 10 months 3 days |
|
| President of the Legislative Council |
01 Mar 1984 |
03 Jul 1991 |
7 years 4 months 4 days |
|
| President of the Legislative Council |
07 Nov 1978 |
05 Mar 1984 |
5 years 3 months 28 days |
|
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
23 Apr 1976 |
05 Mar 1984 |
7 years 10 months 12 days |
A Member of the indirectly elected Council 1934 - 1978. Date of Election 27 November 1975. A Member before reconstitution. A Member of the directly elected Legislative Council. Date of Election 24 March 1984 and 25 March 1995. |
Political Party Activity
Australian Labor Party (ALP). Former President ALP Youth Council. Former member of central executive. Honorary Finance Officer and President Finance Committee, Administrative Committee and Centenary Committee. Former President ALP Maroubra Branch. Returning Officer Maroubra State Electoral Council and Kingsford-Smith Federal Electoral Council. Treasurer of ALP (New South Wales Branch). Life member of ALP. Honorary finance officer of ALP, New South Wales branch.
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Grocer. Trade union official. Educated at Mt St Patrick's Catholic School, Murwillumbah. Retail industry and railway officer, post office, credit union manager. Director of Prince of Wales hospital, Sydney. Chair of Catholic Newspaper Company Pty Ltd. Publishers of Catholic Weekly. Member of Board of Lotteries of New South Wales. Member of Cancer Australia Advisory Council (federal). Recreational interests include reading, Irish affairs and fishing.
Honours Received
Awarded a papal knight of St Gregory the Great (KCSG)
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Married Pauline Christina Russell and had issue, 2 sons and 2 daughters.
Additional Information
First speech
Text from the book "The Presiding Officers of Parliament of New South Wales"
Sydney 1995
John Johnson was born on 26 July 1930 at Murwillumbah in New South Wales. He
left school at the age of fifteen, and commenced work in the retail industry.
He married Pauline Russell on 6 January, 1962 and they had two sons and two
daughters. He became a delegate to the Shop Assistant's Union and worked his
way up to become the Union's Assistant Secretary. After many years in the Labor
Party Johnson became Honorary Finance Officer in the New South Wales Branch of
the ALP and he remains heavily involved in fundraising at a State and Federal
level. Johnson was also a State President of the Young Labor Association of New
South Wales.
Johnson was first elected to the Legislative Council in November 1975, taking
his seat in April 1976 and in his maiden speech in November 1976 he spoke out
against abortion and for government funded election campaigns. On Melbourne Cup
Day 1978 he was elected President of the Legislative Council, which made him
the youngest Member ever elected President. Johnson abandoned the use of
ceremonial attire, preferring to preside in a suit without wig or gown. During
his Presidency the new Parliament House buildings were constructed, and the
original buildings restored. With the support of the cross benches, Johnson was
able to survive an attempt to have him replaced by a Coalition Member as
President in 1988. However in July 1991 the Coalition, with the support of the
Call to Australia Group, succeeded in replacing Johnson as President.
Consequently he was the first elected President of the Legislative Council to
be voted out of Office.
