Name George Cole | ||
Born 9 February 1908
Don, Tasmania ( 1908-02-09 ) Died 23 January 1969(1969-01-23) (aged 60) Political party Labor (1949–55)
Labor (A-C) (1955–57)
DLP (1957–65) | ||
George Ronald Cole (9 February 1908 – 23 January 1969) was an Australian politician. Born in Don, Tasmania, he was raised in the Methodist faith of his mother, educated at state schools and then the University of Tasmania, before becoming a teacher and headmaster in state schools.
As an Australian rules footballer with New Town, Cole excelled and won the TANFL's 'Best and Fairest' trophy in 1928. He represented Tasmania at the 1930 Adelaide Carnival. On 28 March 1932 he married a hairdresser, Kathleen Mary Cuttriss, at St Mary's Catholic Cathedral, Hobart. By this time Cole had been received into the Roman Catholic Church.
Cole served in the military 1939-1945. In 1949, he was elected to the Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for Tasmania with a term from 22 February 1950 to 30 June 1953, filling a short vacancy created by the expansion of the Senate from 36 to 60 seats. In August 1955, he was expelled from the Labor Party and joined seven lower house MPs in forming the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957. He was elected in 1958 as a Democratic Labor Senator. He held the seat until his defeat in 1964. Cole died in 1969, aged 60.