Person - Maurie Keane
MAURICE FRANCIS KEANE (1923 - 2014)
Of interest to ASIO, Maurie Keane was New Theatre President in 1951 and for a time Workshop Coordinator until 1953 when he moved to Hobart. He played Gimbin a tribal elder in a Workshop of Rocket Range 1951, acted in The Lion on the Square 1949, Flowers for the Living 1949, We, the People 1950, played an Athenian envoy in Lysistrata 1950, followed by How I Wonder! 1951 and An Inspector General 1953. After going into State politics he was a guest at Knock Knock in place of Premier Neville Wran in 1978, was one of the official speakers at NT’s 50th birthday in 1982, attended the testimonial for Miriam Hampson in Sydney Town Hall in 1983, and a NT fundraising dinner was held for him in 1987. He was "a nice bloke" according to Tom Salisbury.
Maurie Keane was born in Croydon Park on 21 September 1923 and educated at Homebush High and De La Salle Ashfield where he recited and sang in school concerts. He was successful in Shakespeare recitations at eisteddfods and gained a drama and speech diploma from Trinity College. After leaving school he worked briefly as a proofreader. From 1942-5 he was a signalman with the AIF.
After the war he did a drama course where Marie Armstrong met him and persuaded him to go to NT shows. He worked in advertising and sales for Lever Brothers. Marie and he differed over advertising, she maintaining it was a waste of money while he said it gave people choice.
Maurie's politics shifted towards the Left. He joined the ALP in 1957 and was a local government councillor from 1962 until November 1973 when he was elected MLA for Woronora (he sent Miriam Hampson a copy of his maiden speech), a seat he held until 1988 when it was renamed Sutherland and he was defeated by a narrow margin by the Liberal candidate. In December 1973 he addressed one of his first Questions to the Premier wanting confirmation of a pre-election pledge by Woronora’s Liberal candidate that a petro-chemical complex would not be built at Lucas Heights. Askin in reply: “As the honourable member for Woronora is a new member, the Christmas spirit being in the air, I shall look at what has been said and try to give a helpful answer as soon as I can.”
(The Lucas Heights residential area has been called Barden Ridge since the mid 1990s to increase its real estate value.)
Keane’s other early Questions were about local issues: sewerage, sandmining, bus services, railways, national parks, town planning and water safety.
Maurie was a Life Governor of Sutherland Shire Police Citizens Youth Club, executive director “father of Land Rights” of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council 1990-3 and director of the Mandela Foundation of Australia 1994-5. Apart from theatre, his interests were tennis, bushwalking, ballet, opera and classical music.
He married Patricia Lucy Christmas in 1951. A widower, he died on 12 October 2014, survived by two sons and a daughter. As was customary, his passing was announced in the Legislative Assembly where members of the House stood as a mark of respect.
Fancy dress party, 1952. Maurie Keane seated on floor far right at front.
Maurie Keane has a Wikipedia entry, and a biography on the NSW Parliament website.
