Obituaries Australia

Pat Heagney, 1908

Labor Call (Melbourne), 27 February 1908, p 3

The death of our esteemed comrade, "Pat" [Patrick Reginald] Heagney, came somewhat of a shock to members of the Movement. After a long illness he passed away in the Alfred Hospital on the 7th inst. The funeral took place on Friday last, when there was a representative gathering of Laborites and friends of the deceased to witness the last act at the Brighton Cemetery.

Our comrade was one of the most prominent pioneers of our present Political party. When the workers of this State decided to form a separate political party, distinct from the Trades Hall Council, he was appointed the first secretary of the Political Labor Council in the year 1903, and he occupied the position till 1910. The P.L.C. later changed its name to the Australian Labor Party. When our comrade first took on the hard work as secretary, there was no salary attached to the position, and he did it in an honorary capacity. There were times when he worked with other comrades right through the night, and took his place on the job of his employer the following morning.

It is largely due to the untiring efforts of our departed comrade that the Party is so strong in our State to-day. However, he was compelled by ill-health in 1910 to relinquish the position. During the first four years he did the work in an honorary capacity, and in 1908 he was appointed full-time secretary.

He was a delegate on the T.H.C. for the Union to which he belonged—the Amalgamated Society or Carpenters and Joiners—and was the author of several pamphlets on Labor and economic subjects. On one occasion he stood for Parliament, when he unsuccessfully contested Bulla.

Comrade Heagney's work will long be remembered by those within the Movement, as he was one of those spirits that worked for the cause because he loved it. If we are successful on the 16th inst, it will be largely due to the foundation laid by our once loved comrade, Pat Heagney.

Comrade Heagney has taken a very prominent part at different times in the Movement, and his daughter, Miss Muriel Heagney, by her work on the Trades Hall Council, the Basic Wage Commission, and her efforts on behalf of the starving children of Europe, will no doubt keep the name of her father well to the fore to ever remind us of the man who lived and died in the cause he loved.