Obituaries Australia

Tribune regrets to announce that Mabel Hanson died in Brisbane on December 23.

Mabel was born in Charleville, Queensland in 1909. At the age of 12 she won a scholarship to Brisbane Grammar School, which unfortunately she had to leave two years later due to the poor circumstances of her family.

She married Jack Hanson during the Great Depression. Jack was unemployed but they made a small living searching for gold in the Mary valley.

Both had been politically inclined from an early age. Jack's father had been an ALP Speaker of the state parliament and naturally they at first became involved in the ALP.

However, they became disappointed in its performance in the 30s and joined the Communist Party. They remained lifelong members.

Mabel became increasingly involved in the women's movement, which was very lively and active at the time, while Jack became the secretary of the Painters Union and a strong force on the Trades and Labor Council.

In 1937 a Queensland Women's Peace Movement was formed. Mabel joined other women who walked through Brisbane shops, wearing aprons with the slogan "Boycott Japanese Goods", in protest at Japan's invasion of China.

A campaign for equal pay developed in the late 30s, and many unions had also established women's auxiliaries to help in union struggles. By 1939, the Trades and Labor Council had established its own auxiliary, of which Mabel was elected secretary.

Under her leadership, the auxiliary carried out a number of campaigns through the war years, against profiteering and for equal pay and other improvements in the wages and conditions of the many women who had entered the workforce at this period.

At the end of the war, long-delayed workers' demands for improved wages and conditions burst out in a series of strikes. Mabel and the TLC Women's Auxiliary were busy setting up relief depots to supply food to workers in distress, solving other problems and helping on picket lines and so on. The Union of Australian Women was formed in 1950. Mabel was a founding member.

Mabel was particularly proud of her role in helping establish the Holland Park Child Care Centre. This centre, much improved over the hard-built original, still exists.

I was involved with Mabel until recently in running a plants' stall at the twice-yearly Tribune fairs. Mabel was a regular supplier and one of the main sellers of plants until her final illness overtook her.

Mabel's aims were always high and good, yet she was never a star gazer. She never neglected those close to her. For that alone she was deservedly loved and admired by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

To Mabel's son John, to her family and many friends, we offer our deepest sympathy.