1. Nicholas Edward McKenna was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1944 to 1968.
12 Facts About Nick McKenna
1. 2.
Nick McKenna held ministerial office in the Chifley government from 1946 to 1949 as Minister for Health and Minister for Social Services.
3.
Nick McKenna was later Leader of the Opposition in the Senate for a record term of 15 years.
4.
Nick McKenna was born in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton and educated at St Joseph's Christian Brothers' College, North Melbourne between 1904 and 1912.
5.
Nick McKenna excelled in his schooling passing seven subjects in the Senior Public University Examination in 1911 and eventually gaining second place in the national Federal Public Service Examination in 1912.
6.
Nick McKenna was elected as a senator for Tasmania at the 1943 election, representing the Australian Labor Party.
7.
Nick McKenna was appointed as Minister for Health and Minister for Social Services in the second Chifley Ministry in November 1946 and held those positions until the defeat of the Chifley government at the 1949 election.
8.
Nick McKenna campaigned energetically for the 1946 referendums and, with the passage of the social services proposal, he was in charge of the government's attempt to introduce a national health scheme.
9.
Nick McKenna was leader of the opposition in the Senate from 1951 to 1966.
10.
Nick McKenna took an active part in the fight against the banning of the Communist Party of Australia in the 1951 referendum.
11.
Nick McKenna considered that it was a high point in his career that Australia has "decided not to become a police state".
12.
Nick McKenna survived them by five years, eventually passing away in 1974 at the Sydney suburb of Crows Nest, New South Wales, survived by his daughter.