Brendan Hansen (politician)
Brendan Percival Hansen was an Australian politician. He served as Member for Wide Bay in the Federal Parliament from 1961 to 1974 and as Member for Maryborough in the Queensland Parliament from 1977 to 1983, representing the Australian Labor Party.
Early life
Brendan Percival Hansen was born on 21 August 1922 in Maryborough, Queensland, the eldest son of Percy Hansen and Mary Ann.His father, a shipwright by trade, had been Secretary of the Shipwrights Union in Brisbane and Maryborough, and was involved in the founding of the Queensland Council of Unions.
Hansen was educated at the Granville State School and Christian Brothers College, Maryborough before becoming a shipwright and loftsman at the Walkers Limited shipyard. He joined the Labor Party in 1950 and served as Secretary of the Granville branch of the ALP.
Politics
Hansen served as President of the Maryborough sub-branch of the Federated Shipwrights and Ship Constructors Association and as an alderman on Maryborough City Council before entering federal politics. In 1958, he ran for the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor candidate for Wide Bay, losing to Country Party candidate Henry Bandidt. However, he sought a rematch against Bandidt in 1961 and won. It was the first time Labor had won the seat, once held by former Labor leader Andrew Fisher, since 1915.After the Whitlam government was elected in 1972 he acted as government whip until 1974, when he was defeated by Country Party's Clarrie Millar. Hansen ran against Millar again in 1975, but was heavily defeated. In 1977, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the member for Maryborough, a position he held until 1983.