|
This article requires pre-publication review by an uninvolved reviewer (one not substantially involved in writing the article). Note, only qualified reviewers may do this and publish articles. This right requires experience with Wikinews policies and procedures. To request the right, apply here.Reviewers, please use Easy Peer Review per these instructions.
-Article last amended: Aug 31 at 3:58:49 UTC (history) |
| This article requires pre-publication review by an uninvolved reviewer (one not substantially involved in writing the article).
Note, only qualified reviewers may do this and publish articles. This right requires experience with Wikinews policies and procedures. To request the right, apply here.Reviewers, please use Easy Peer Review per these instructions.
-Article last amended: Aug 31 at 3:58:49 UTC (history) |
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
South Australian Labor senator Alex Gallacher died on Sunday at the age of 67, after being diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2019.
Gallacher was born in Scotland on 1 January 1954, and migrated to Australia in 1966 with his parents, working for Trans Australia Airlines as a labourer, truck driver, and ramp services operator. In 1988, Gallacher became involved with the trade union movement, joining the Transport Workers Union of Australia. Gallacher was elected to the Australian Senate representing South Australia in the 2010 Australian federal election, and was re-elected in 2016 and 2019.
In a statement on Facebook, South Australian Labor leader Peter Malinauskas said that he was “deeply saddened” to hear of Gallacher’s death, writing that he “passed away peacefully on 29 August 2021” and that he “battled with courage until the very end”. Malinsaukas added that “transport workers could hardly have had a better friend, ally, and advocate in the Australia (sic) Parliament than Alex Gallacher.”
Labor senator Penny Wong said of Gallacher’s death that “Alex’s fragile health as a consequence of his cancer diagnosis was widely known. However, this does not make the news of his passing any easier”. Liberal senator Simon Birmingham expressed praise of Gallacher, calling him a “straight shooter” and “proudly of the old school Labor mould”. Birmingham stated that “he took his love for the transport sector into the Australian Parliament, particularly his staunch advocacy for road safety and fierce interest in the rights of workers in the aviation industry”.
Gallacher is survived by his wife Paola, his four children Caroline, Ian, Terry, and Frank, and a number of grandchildren.