17 Facts About Ron Elstob

Ronald Charles Elstob was an Australian politician.

Ron Elstob served as a Senator for South Australia from 1978 to 1987, representing the Australian Labor Party.

Ron Elstob was a waterside worker and trade unionist prior to his election to parliament.

Ron Elstob began his education at the Toowoomba East State School.

Ron Elstob's parents were both from New South Wales and in 1938 the family moved to Sydney, where they ran a hotel in Newtown.

In 1942, Ron Elstob joined the US Army Small Ships Section, a collection of small-draft vessels crewed mostly by Australian civilians.

Ron Elstob participated in "supply runs to Milne Bay, Port Moresby and other locations along the New Guinea coast".

Ron Elstob was later stranded at Finschhafen for a period after his ship was sunk by a Japanese Zero fighter.

Ron Elstob later recalled that "his life was constantly in danger and he was forced into drastic and violent actions to stay alive".

Ron Elstob eventually settled in Adelaide and worked as a crane driver on the Port Adelaide waterside.

Ron Elstob joined the Waterside Workers' Federation in 1949 and was a vice-president of the Port Adelaide branch, serving as a delegate to the Trades and Labour Council.

Ron Elstob joined the Australian Labor Party in 1939 as a member of the East Sydney branch.

In December 1976, Ron Elstob won ALP preselection for the Senate.

Ron Elstob was elected in second place on the ALP ticket at the 1977 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 1978.

Ron Elstob was forced to retire at the 1987 election due to the ALP's preselection rules.

Ron Elstob married Angela Smerlac in 1949, with whom he had two daughters.

Ron Elstob retired to Mountain Creek, Queensland, after leaving the Senate.