Jane Beckmann
The Socialist Alliance lost one of its most colourful members with the recent death of Ken Morley. Ken died from illness at the age of 78.
Ken was born in Newcastle and spent his life as part of the working class. The son of a miner and a seamstress, Ken became an electrician for one of the large industries in Newcastle.
In 1967 Ken married Judy Morley, a long-time political activist in Newcastle in the nurses union and the social movements. A member of the Communist Party of Australia until its demise, Judy is now a member of Socialist Alliance and stood as a Socialist Alliance candidate in the recent local council elections.
Ken exemplified many working-class virtues. Despite leaving school early to do an apprenticeship, Ken was a genuine working-class intellectual who was gifted at maths, skilled in English language and grammar, well-read and possessed an extraordinary general knowledge. He was from the generation of the three R's and knew them well.
A colourful character, he was a keen footballer, could repair or build anything, bred donkeys, pigs, turkeys, ducks and loved his schnauser dogs. A man who had lived through the depression years, he was frugal but generous to all his friends. He helped build the Newcastle Young People's Theatre.
Ken was always the first to take up an argument in defence of left-wing issues, combating racism, sexism, privatisation and the war on Iraq, and offering solidarity to East Timor and gay rights and other struggling groups.
He took his children to China and Cuba and encouraged them to get an education, travel and have a political point of view. This broadminded, generous approach extended outside the family and Ken is well-known for befriending a poor young Chinese boy. This boy is now a man who heads a successful company in China.
Like a lot of industrial workers, Ken had his share of industrial accidents that played a part in undermining his health. He will be missed but his memory and example will live on through the work of the Socialist Alliance.
From Green Left Weekly, September 22, 2004.
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