{{Short description|Australian public servant and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Steven Lonergan | image =
| office1 = Official Member of the Legislative Council | term1 = 1952–1959 | predecessor1 = Claude Champion | successor1 = | constituency1 =
| office2 = Government Secretary | term2 = 1949–1955
| birth_date = 29 March 1899 | birth_place = Hobart, Tasmania | death_date = June 1969 (aged 70) | death_place = Sydney, Australia }}
'''Steven Ainsworth Lonergan''' (29 March 1899 – June 1969) was an Australian public servant, who spent most of his career in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. He served in the Legislative Council from 1952 to 1959.
==Biography== Lonergan was born in Hobart in Tasmania in March 1899,<ref>Ian Downs (1999) ''The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, NGVR, 1939-1943: A History'', p150</ref> and was educated at State High School in Launceston.<ref name=WW>''Who's who in Australia, Volume 14'', p434</ref> He joined the Australian armed forces during World War I and saw action the Battle of Gallipoli aged only 16 and later in France, where he was badly injured.<ref name=PIM/> He then served in the Australian army headquarters in London.<ref name=PIM/> After the war he studied at the Repatriation Trades School in Launceston from 1920 to 1922,<ref name=WW/> before joining the civil service in the Territory of New Guinea in 1923. He married Norfolk Islander Irene Mitchell in February 1929.<ref name=WW/>
In 1940 he was appointed Assistant Government Secretary.<ref name=WW/> During World War II he was part of the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit, achieving the rank of lieutenant-colonel and was mentioned in dispatches.<ref name=PIM/><ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-317552084/view?sectionId=nla.obj-330703770&partId=nla.obj-317561926#page/n9/mode/1up Heroes of the territories] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1945, p7</ref> He became Acting Government Secretary in 1949,<ref name=WW/> and in 1951 took on the role permanently.<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-318261487/view?sectionId=nla.obj-330902737&partId=nla.obj-318283496#page/n11/mode/1up Papua-New Guinea administration] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1951, p12</ref> As a result, he was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1952.<ref name=PIM5>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-318530811/view?sectionId=nla.obj-331047682&partId=nla.obj-318663505#page/n57/mode/1up P-NG Legislative Council] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', March 1952, p56</ref>
The Secretary Department was scrapped in 1955 and Lonergan became Director of Civil Affairs. He was also Acting Assistant Administrator for five months in 1956–57.<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-320846882/view?sectionId=nla.obj-340537057&partId=nla.obj-321011001#page/n22/mode/1up Dr. J.T. Gunther] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', March 1957, p21</ref> He retired in 1959 and returned to Australia. He died in Sydney in 1969, survived by his wife.<ref name=PIM>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-330239351/view?sectionId=nla.obj-336070100&partId=nla.obj-330260446#page/n128/mode/1up Mr. S.A. Lonergan] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', July 1969, p125</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonergan, Steven}} Category:1899 births Category:People from Hobart Category:Australian military personnel of World War I Category:Australian public servants Category:Territory of New Guinea people Category:Territory of Papua and New Guinea people Category:Papua New Guinean civil servants Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea Category:1969 deaths Category:Australian colonels