Hughie Williams

Hughie Williams
Personal information
Born3 September 1933
Died15 October 2017 (2017-10-16) (aged 84)
Height[1]
Weight[1]
Sport
Sportwrestling

Hughie Williams (3 September 1933 – 15 October 2017) was the former State Secretary of the Queensland Branch of the Transport Workers Union of Australia. He was State Secretary from 1992–2010 and was the national president in 2000.[2] He was also State Secretary during the early 1980s and had been secretary of the now defunct Brisbane sub-branch throughout the 1980s.

Williams was a stalwart of the Union movement in his time as organiser and then Branch Secretary.[3]

On 10 December 2010 Williams stood aside as secretary after being defeated by a landslide defeat[4] in the quadrennial elections by 'The New Transport Worker Team' headed by Peter Biagini.[5][6] Williams was 77 when he was defeated.[7]

Williams died on 15 October 2017.[8]

Activist

Williams dedicated his life to fighting injustices and was instrumental in the protests against the Springboks Tour in the 1970s.[3]

Williams stood as unsuccessfully an ALP candidate for the Queensland state seat of Ithaca in 1972.[9]

Wrestling and early life

Williams was raised in the coalmining area of Maitland in NSW.[6] Williams has also competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in wrestling[10] in the light-heavyweight freestyle (<97kgs) division[11] and was involved in organising for Brisbane's 1982 Commonwealth Games.Williams was elected a Gold Life member of Wresting Australia for his service as a volunteer and committee member.[12] Exhibition notes for Rockhampton's Museum of Art WrestleMANIA exhibition notes that Rockhampton was a stronghold for Williams.[13] Brett MacAnally's poem "The Paddo of my youth" contains the line "Hughie Williams taught the Wrestling" at the PYC.[14]

Books

Murray Johnson's biography of Williams "No holds barred: Hughie Williams: Olympic wrestler and trade union heavyweight" was published in 2003 by the Central Queensland University Press.[15]

In 2009 former Federal ALP leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Kim Beazley AC launched Williams' autobiography "A Life".[16][17] The launch attended was by the then Labor Premier Anna Bligh AC and Campbell Newman AO (who defeated Bligh in the 2012 state election).

Union Cooperative Society

Williams and others assisted Qld Labor figure George Georges in establishing the Union Cooperative Society.[18] Williams was Chair of the Coop in the 1990s. during Georges' and Williams time, the Paddington Workers Club was established. Senator Clair Moore recalls a large picture of Williams in his wrestling gear in the entrance of the club.[19]

Hughie Williams Park

Brisbane Council has named a park in Cecil Road, Bardon, a suburb of which Williams was a resident, the Hughie Williams Park.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Hugh Williams at Sports Reference
  2. ^ Trade union icon launches autobiography in Brisbane Brisbane Times, 27 June 2009
  3. ^ a b "VALE HUGHIE WILLIAMS - TWU Queensland". TWU Queensland. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Hughie Williams loses TWU Qld election". FullyLoaded.com.au. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  5. ^ Trade union heavyweight steps down Archived 3 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Ninemsn, 10 December 2010
  6. ^ a b Schneiders, Royce Millar and Ben (29 November 2013). "The Money Men". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  7. ^ AAP (10 December 2010). "Trade union heavyweight seps down". The Age. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  8. ^ Vale Hughie Williams: ‘Plenty of courage, plenty of guts and plenty of determination’ Courier-Mail, 16 October 2017
  9. ^ Kellett, John (March 2007). "Interview Hughie Williams: General Secretary of the Queensland Branch of the Transport Workers Union". The Queensland Journal of Labour History (4): 30.
  10. ^ Olympic results Archived 29 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Olympic Games Tokyo 1964". Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Life Membership - Wrestling Australia". Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "WestleMANIA". 7 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ McAnally, Brett (February 2021). "The Paddo of my Youth". Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "No holds barred : Hughie Williams : olympic wrestler and trade union heavyweight / Murray Johnson". 7 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ No byline (27 June 2007). "Trade union icon launches autobiography in Brisbane". The Age. Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ ISBN 780646514468
  18. ^ Reed, Bob. "In Memoriam Memories of Hughie Williams". The Queensland Journal of Labour History (27): 45 – via Infortmit.
  19. ^ "A general history of the UCS". ucs.coop/home. Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ "Bardon Parks". 30 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)