# Jim McClelland > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jim_McClelland > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jim_McClelland.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McClelland > Source revision: 1347306395 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Other people|James McClelland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [The Honourable](/source/The_Honourable) | name = Jim McClelland | honorific_suffix = | image = Jim McClelland 1974 (cropped).jpg | office = Chief Judge of the [Land and Environment Court of New South Wales](/source/Land_and_Environment_Court_of_New_South_Wales) | predecessor = ''New office'' | successor = [Jerrold Cripps](/source/Jerrold_Cripps) | term_start = 14 April 1980 | term_end = 2 June 1985 | office2 = [Minister for Labor and Immigration](/source/Department_of_Labor_and_Immigration) | prime_minister2 = [Gough Whitlam](/source/Gough_Whitlam) | predecessor2 = [Clyde Cameron](/source/Clyde_Cameron) | successor2 = [Tony Street](/source/Tony_Street) | term_start2 = 6 June 1975 | term_end2 = 11 November 1975 | office3 = [Minister for Manufacturing Industry](/source/Department_of_Manufacturing_Industry) | prime_minister3 = [Gough Whitlam](/source/Gough_Whitlam) | predecessor3 = [Kep Enderby](/source/Kep_Enderby) | successor3 = [Lionel Bowen](/source/Lionel_Bowen) | term_start3 = 10 February 1975 | term_end3 = 6 June 1975 | title4 = [Senator](/source/Australian_Senate) for [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales) | term_start4 = 16 March 1971 | term_end4 = 21 July 1978 | predecessor4 = [James Ormonde](/source/James_Ormonde_(Australian_politician)) | successor4 = [Kerry Sibraa](/source/Kerry_Sibraa) | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1915|6|3}} | birth_place = [Melbourne, Victoria](/source/Melbourne%2C_Victoria), Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1999|1|16|1915|6|3}} | death_place = [Wentworth Falls, New South Wales](/source/Wentworth_Falls%2C_New_South_Wales), Australia | spouse = {{marriage|Nora Fitzer|1947|1968|reason=div}}
{{marriage|Freda Watson|1968|1976|reason=died}}
{{Marriage|Gillian Appleton|1978}} | party = [Labor](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) | relations = | children = | alma_mater = [University of Melbourne](/source/University_of_Melbourne)
[University of Sydney](/source/University_of_Sydney) | occupation = Solicitor, unionist | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''James Robert McClelland'''{{efn|Although he was nicknamed "Diamond Jim" by the Australian media, at McClelland's funeral, [Gough Whitlam](/source/Gough_Whitlam) indicated that McClelland disliked this Americanism.}} (3 June 1915 – 16 January 1999) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the [Australian Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) (ALP) and served as a [Senator](/source/Australian_Senate) for [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales) from 1971 to 1978. He briefly held ministerial office in the [Whitlam government](/source/Whitlam_government) in 1975 as [Minister for Manufacturing Industry](/source/Department_of_Manufacturing_Industry) and [Minister for Labor and Immigration](/source/Department_of_Labor_and_Immigration). He later served as the inaugural Chief Judge of the [Land and Environment Court of New South Wales](/source/Land_and_Environment_Court_of_New_South_Wales) from 1980 to 1985, as well as presiding over the 1984 [McClelland Royal Commission](/source/McClelland_Royal_Commission) into British nuclear tests in Australia. ==Early life== McClelland was born in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne) on 3 June 1915. He was the son of Florence Ruby (née O'Connor) and Robert William McClelland. His father, of [Ulster Scots](/source/Ulster_Scots_people) descent, was a painter, paperhanger and signwriter with the [Victorian Railways](/source/Victorian_Railways).{{cite Au Senate|Sen id=mcclelland-james-robert |title=McClelland, James Robert (1915–1999) |first=D B |last=Waterson |access-date=2022-12-23}} McClelland spent his early years in the Melbourne suburb of [Glen Iris](/source/Glen_Iris%2C_Victoria). In 1925 his father was transferred to [Ballarat](/source/Ballarat), where he attended [St Patrick's College, Ballarat](/source/St_Patrick's_College%2C_Ballarat). He completed his secondary education on a scholarship at [St Kevin's College, Melbourne](/source/St_Kevin's_College%2C_Melbourne), where he was a classmate of [B. A. Santamaria](/source/B._A._Santamaria). McClelland's parents had a [mixed marriage](/source/Interdenominational_marriage) and he was raised in his mother's Catholic faith. He considered training for the priesthood, but abandoned Catholicism as a young adult. McClelland won a scholarship to attend the [University of Melbourne](/source/University_of_Melbourne) in 1932, but dropped out in 1934 and joined Victorian Railways as a clerk. He later re-enrolled as a part-time student and graduated [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in 1936. In 1940, McClelland began working as a labourer with [Australian Iron & Steel](/source/Australian_Iron_%26_Steel). Identifying as a [Trotskyist](/source/Trotskyist), he joined the Communist-dominated [Federated Ironworkers' Association](/source/Federated_Ironworkers'_Association) (FIA) and came under the influence of union leader [Laurie Short](/source/Laurie_Short) and Marxist scholar [Guido Baracchi](/source/Guido_Baracchi). He later worked for ARC Engineering Company and was a [shop steward](/source/shop_steward), but in 1942 was expelled from the FIA for engaging in disruptive activities and terminated from his employment for "anti-war deviationism". His expulsion from the union was reportedly orchestrated by his rival [Ernie Thornton](/source/Ernie_Thornton). In 1943, McClelland joined the [Royal Australian Air Force](/source/Royal_Australian_Air_Force) (RAAF). He served as a [leading aircraftman](/source/leading_aircraftman) with radar units in Australia and was also stationed in New Guinea from 1945 to 1946. After the war's end he settled in Sydney, briefly running a beachside café in [Manly](/source/Manly%2C_New_South_Wales). He subsequently enrolled to study law at the [University of Sydney](/source/University_of_Sydney) under the [Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme](/source/Commonwealth_Reconstruction_Training_Scheme), graduating [Bachelor of Laws](/source/Bachelor_of_Laws) in 1950. He was admitted to practise law in New South Wales in 1951 and established the firm of Boyland, McClelland and Company. Within a few years he had a "lucrative practice in industrial compensation law". He also represented Short from 1950 to 1952 in his successful attempts to remove the leadership of the FIA, briefing barrister and future governor-general [John Kerr](/source/John_Kerr_(governor-general)). ==Early political involvement== McClelland joined the Glen Iris branch of the [Australian Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) (ALP) in 1941 and joined the [Paddington](/source/Paddington%2C_New_South_Wales) branch after moving to Sydney. By the mid-1950s he had abandoned Trotskyism and was approached to join the anti-communist [Democratic Labor Party](/source/Democratic_Labor_Party_(Australia%2C_1955)), ultimately letting his ALP membership lapse. In the early 1960s, McClelland joined the ALP's [Mosman](/source/Mosman%2C_New_South_Wales) branch. He first stood for parliament at the [1966 election](/source/1966_Australian_federal_election), running unsuccessfully in the safe [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Australia) seat of [Warringah](/source/Division_of_Warringah). ==Senate== McClelland was elected to represent [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales) for the [ALP](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) in the [1970 Senate election](/source/1970_Australian_Senate_election), his term to begin on 1 July 1971. In March 1971 he was appointed to a [casual vacancy](/source/Casual_vacancies_in_the_Australian_Parliament) for the remainder of the term of the late senator [James Ormonde](/source/James_Ormonde_(Australian_politician)). He was again elected in the [double dissolution](/source/double_dissolution) election of [May 1974](/source/1974_Australian_federal_election). In the [Third Whitlam Ministry](/source/Third_Whitlam_Ministry) he was [Minister for Manufacturing Industry](/source/Department_of_Manufacturing_Industry) from 10 February to 6 June 1975. From 6 June to 11 November 1975 he was [Minister for Labor and Immigration](/source/Department_of_Labor_and_Immigration) and Minister assisting the Prime Minister in matters relating to the Public Service. He was again elected at the [December 1975](/source/1975_Australian_federal_election) double dissolution election. According to an article by [C. J. Coventry](/source/C._J._Coventry), McClelland had been an informer for the U.S.Coventry, C. J., "The Eloquence of Robert J Hawke: United States informer, 1973-79," [Australian Journal of Politics and History](/source/Australian_Journal_of_Politics_and_History), 67:1 (2021), 85. He resigned from the Senate on 21 July 1978. ==Later life== In 1980 McClelland was appointed the first chief judge of the [Land and Environment Court of NSW](/source/Land_and_Environment_Court_of_New_South_Wales), holding that office until his 70th birthday in June 1985. In 1984, as Justice McClelland, he was President of the [Royal Commission into British nuclear tests in Australia](/source/McClelland_Royal_Commission) at [Maralinga](/source/Maralinga%2C_South_Australia). He was reviled by the right as is indicated in [Roddy Meagher](/source/Roddy_Meagher)'s portrait in ''[Quadrant](/source/Quadrant_(magazine))'', and associated with [Edmund Campion](/source/Edmund_Campion_(historian)), [Patrick White](/source/Patrick_White), [Manning Clark](/source/Manning_Clark) and [Donald Horne](/source/Donald_Horne).{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} ==Personal life== In 1947, McClelland married Nora Fitzer, a [Harbin Russian](/source/Harbin_Russians) of Jewish descent. The couple adopted two children together, one of whom predeceased him.{{cite news|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcclelland-jim-32753|title=James Robert (Jim) McClelland (1915–1999)|first=Stephen|last=Wilks|year=2023|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography}} They divorced in 1968 and in the same year he remarried to Freda Watson, who had three young children from a previous marriage. They settled in [Darling Point](/source/Darling_Point%2C_New_South_Wales) where they were friends of author [Patrick White](/source/Patrick_White). McClelland was widowed in 1976 and in 1978 married writer Gillian Appleton. McClelland retired to [Wentworth Falls](/source/Wentworth_Falls%2C_New_South_Wales) in the [Blue Mountains](/source/Blue_Mountains_(New_South_Wales)). He died at his home on 16 January 1999, aged 83. == Notes == {{notelist}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060826154403/http://www.quadrant.org.au/php/article_view.php?article_id=1118 ''Portraits: Jim McClelland''], ''[Quadrant](/source/Quadrant_(magazine))'', June 2005 – 49:6 [Accessed 4 March 2006] *James McClelland, (1988), ''Stirring the Possum: A Political Autobiography'', Penguin, Sydney {{ISBN|0-14-009764-3}} *James McClelland, (1989), ''An Angel Bit The Bride'' Penguin {{ISBN|0-14-012831-X}} *Gillian Appleton, (2000), ''Diamond Cuts: An Affectionate Memoir of Jim McClelland'' Macmillan {{ISBN|0-7329-1051-X}} ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050719233858/http://www.whitlam.org/collection/1999/19990203_state_mem_servicefor_jim_mcclleland/ From the State Memorial Service for Jim McClelland] at The [Whitlam Institute](/source/Whitlam_Institute) website   {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title= [Minister for Manufacturing Industry](/source/Minister_for_Innovation%2C_Industry%2C_Science_and_Research_(Australia)) | before=[Kep Enderby](/source/Kep_Enderby) | after= [Lionel Bowen](/source/Lionel_Bowen) | years=1975 }} {{succession box | title= [Minister for Labour and Immigration](/source/Minister_for_Immigration_and_Citizenship_(Australia)) | before=[Clyde Cameron](/source/Clyde_Cameron) | after= [Tony Street](/source/Tony_Street) | years=1975 }} {{s-end}} {{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-new}} {{s-ttl |title= Chief Judge of the [Land and Environment Court](/source/Land_and_Environment_Court_of_New_South_Wales) (NSW) |years= 1980{{endash}}1985}} {{s-aft |after= [Jerrold Cripps](/source/Jerrold_Cripps) }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, Jim}} Category:1915 births Category:1999 deaths Category:People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat Category:People educated at St Kevin's College, Melbourne Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Category:1975 Australian constitutional crisis Category:Australian royal commissioners Category:Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Category:Members of the Australian Senate Category:Members of the Cabinet of Australia Category:20th-century Australian lawyers Category:20th-century Australian politicians Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jim McClelland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McClelland) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McClelland?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.