Jack Fitzgerald (Australian politician)

John Christopher Fitzgerald (7 October 1864 – 22 December 1936) was an Australian politician, who represented the Labor Party in the two-member state electoral district of Port Pirie in the South Australian House of Assembly between 1918 and his death in 1936. In his final term he was the deputy leader of the state Labor Party, and as the longest-serving member of House of Assembly, was also father of the house.

Born at Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula, his family moved to Port Pirie in the Mid North of South Australia when he was ten years old, and after completing his schooling, he worked as a labourer in various industries, then at the port. A short stint of prospecting at Broken Hill resulted in a significant windfall, after which Fitzgerald returned to Port Pirie and was active in the local community, particularly in sport. In 1901, Fitzgerald enlisted for service in the Second Boer War, and returned with the rank of quartermaster sergeant the following year. He returned to Port Pirie to work on the docks, and filled various leadership roles in the local labour movement, and in 1904 was elected to the town council. Unable to nominate the following year due to ill health, he continued to run unsuccessfully as a candidate in local elections, and was also an unsuccessful candidate for Labor Party preselection for the state electoral district of Stanley. In 1911, he took up farming at nearby Wirrabara.

An unsuccessful Labor candidate for Stanley in the 1915 state election, in 1918 Fitzgerald's persistence paid off when he was elected in the recently created two-member district of Port Pirie, a seat he largely held uncontested for the rest of his life. He did not join the Parliamentary Labor Party after it split from the ALP following the passing of the Premiers' Plan in 1931, but advocated for unity. He built on his state-level political success at the local level, being elected mayor of Port Pirie in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 and 1927, and following this with two terms as an alderman between 1932 and his death. Upon his death, tributes flowed from many in the Port Pirie community, and he was described by an opposition parliamentarian as "one of the really honourable men in public life".