{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = John Cockle | honorific_suffix = | image = John Simon Cockle.jpg | constituency_MP = Warringah | parliament = Australian | majority = | predecessor = Francis Bland | successor = Edward St John | term_start = 9 December 1961 | term_end = 3 August 1966 | birth_name = John Simon Cockle | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1908|9|29}} | birth_place = Harrington, Cumbria, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1966|8|3|1908|9|29}} | death_place = Mosman, New South Wales, Australia | spouse = {{marriage|Jessie Mackay|1935}} | party = Liberal | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = Manager | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''John Simon Cockle''' (29 September 1908 – 3 August 1966) was an Australian politician and businessman. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1961 until his death in 1966, representing the New South Wales seat of Warringah. He had earlier served on the Sydney City Council from 1953 to 1956. Prior to entering politics he was a manager in and lobbyist for the shipping industry.
==Early life== Cockle was born on 29 September 1908 in Harrington, Cumberland, England. He was the son of Sarah ({{Nee|Simon}}) and John Cockle. His father was a ship's captain originally from Liverpool.<ref name=ald>{{cite news|url=https://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/john-cockle/|title=John Simon Cockle|work=Sydney's Alderman|publisher=City of Sydney|access-date=24 January 2026}}</ref>
Cockle and his family moved to Australia when he was young, settling in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, where his father was the local manager for the North Coast Steam Navigation Company (NCSN).<ref name=de>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/194791097|title=New Position For Mr. J. S. Cockle|newspaper=Daily Examiner|location=Grafton|date=24 March 1950}}</ref> He was educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School.<ref name=ald/> After leaving school he joined the NCSN, working in Coffs Harbour until 1935 when he was transferred to Lismore. He was "an executive officer in numerous sporting organisations" and also served as the Coffs Harbour correspondent for ''The Daily Examiner''.<ref name=de/>
Cockle enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1942, after previous service in Militia battery units. He was initially posted to the Armoured Corps Training Regiment and later served in the Pacific with the 3rd Australian Landing Ship Detachment and the 2/2nd Australian Port Operating Company. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of warrant officer (class II).<ref>{{Cite report |last=Church |first=Nathan |date=9 September 2016 |title=Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: the Second World War |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/4807044/upload_binary/4807044.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/4807044%22 |access-date=23 September 2024 |series=Research Papers Series, 2016-17 |publisher=Australian Parliamentary Library |page=11}}</ref>
In 1950, Cockle was appointed secretary of the Sydney branch of the Australasian Steamship Owners' Federation (ASOF), a peak body for employers in the shipping industry.<ref name=de/> He also represented the Commonwealth Steamship Owners' Association as an advocate in Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration proceedings and served as secretary of the Sydney branch of the Company of Master Mariners of Australia.<ref name=ald/>
==Politics== In 1953, Cockle was elected as an alderman of the Sydney City Council, representing City Ward. He remained on the council until 1956, serving on the works committee and health and recreation committee.<ref name=ald/> He was associated with the Civic Reform Association and opposed what he viewed as cronyism by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) administration of Lord Mayor Pat Hills.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220818567|title=City Council appointments|newspaper=Lithgow Mercury|date=21 September 1954}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248951747|title='Can't succeed' without council friends|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=30 November 1954}}</ref>
Cockle was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1961 federal election, retaining the seat of Warringah for the Liberal Party.<ref name=aph>{{cite news|url=https://handbook.aph.gov.au/parliamentarians/JZG|title=COCKLE, John Simon|work=Parliamentary Handbook|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=24 January 2026}}</ref> He had earlier defeated Francis Bland, the 78-year-old incumbent Liberal MP, for party preselection.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/283165803|title=Behind the Headlines|first=Don|last=Whitington|newspaper=Snowy River Mail|date=14 June 1961}}</ref>
Cockle was comfortably re-elected at the 1963 election and remained in parliament until his death in office in 1966. He served on the Joint Statutory Committee on Public Accounts from 1964 to 1966.<ref name=aph/> Cockle spoke frequently on maritime industry matters in parliament. In 1964 he supported calls from Don Chipp to ban Communist Party members from holding office in trade unions, attributing communists as a major source of industrial conflict.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131754739|title=Call to ban communists from union posts|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=15 October 1964}}</ref> He opposed an ALP proposal for the re-establishment of a state-owned overseas shipping service to run alongside the interstate Australian National Line,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128654866|title=Labor 'emotional' about shipping, says Cooke|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=22 April 1966}}</ref> and in 1966 opposed the Maritime Services Board's proposal to expand facilities at Port Jackson, instead calling for the establishment of a new port on Botany Bay.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/105893220|title=Criticism of the Sydney wharf plan|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=24 March 1966}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 1935, Cockle married Jessie Mackay, with whom he had three children.<ref name=ald/> He died of a heart attack on 3 August 1966 in Mosman, New South Wales.<ref name=ct>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107885265|title=Liberal Member dies|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=4 August 1966}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{succession box | title=Member for Warringah | before=Francis Bland| after=Edward St. John| years=1961–1966}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockle, John}} Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Warringah Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:1908 births Category:1966 deaths Category:British emigrants to Australia Category:People from Harrington, Cumbria Category:People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School Category:Australian MPs 1961–1963 Category:Australian MPs 1963–1966 Category:Australian businesspeople in shipping Category:Australian military personnel of World War II