Obituaries Australia

With the death of Maurie Crow, the Communist Party has lost one of its finest members with a range of deep commitments in the urban environmental and union movements. Maurie gained wide renown for his Melbourne town planning work.

He was a communist for 53 years — a member of the party in the 'forties when it became a major force in the Australian community. He was a member when there were serious splits in the party. At the time of each division there were emotional overtones, but Maurie, although a victim, was never a party to the emotional accompaniments. He always adhered to principles.

During the war years, Maurie played a large part in the militant Clerks Union, of which Frank Meyer was Victorian secretary. The Clerks Union became a large organisation and needed a rejuvenated administration. Maurie played a large part in building this new organisation. He then showed his ability as an organiser and administrator.

He worked for white-collar unity; he was part of the group that worked for the unity of the bank clerks, insurance officers and other white collar unions that eventually led them to join the ACTU. He also wrote a history of the Industrial Groups, showing their connections with the BA Santamaria Movement which, at that time, was not known. It was held secret.

In the 'sixties, Maurie became interested in town planning. The growth of Melbourne, the development of suburbia, transport — these were the problems which occupied his mind. It was a field in which he excelled since he had both a broad vision and an attention to detailed organisation.

Here one must mention his colleague and partner in this work — his wife Ruth. It is not often that one meets such a partnership, and it is difficult to speak of Maurie without speaking of Ruth. Maurie, in fact, predated women's liberation — he included Ruth so that the two became inseparable.

Ruth and Maurie or Maurie and Ruth — their town planning work attracted much attention. They received three awards. The Town and Country Planning Association of Victoria awarded the Barret Memorial Medal for 1972 to Maurie and Ruth Crow. It was presented by the then federal Minister for Urban and Regional Development, Mr Tom Uren.

The Royal Institute of Architects (Victorian branch) presented them with the Robin Boyd Award of Merit for "their persistently valuable and perceptive contribution as laymen to the literature of town planning".

Their third award, "The Government Energy Award for Conservation" was given to them for their efforts at energy conservation.

Maurie and Ruth worked together with others to produce Making Melbourne Marvellous, a plan for the future of Melbourne which became influential throughout the left and the urban environmental movements. Although the whole of Maurie's life is his testimony, his work as a town planner stands out as his distinctive contribution.

Maurie Crow loved his children June and Julie and developed a warm and close home life. He was an unusually capable and dedicated man and he never forgot why he became a socialist.