Former Whitlam minister and deputy Labor leader Tom Uren dies aged 93

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One of the Australian Labor Party's most iconic and prominent left-wing figures, Tom Uren, has died at the age of 93.

The ALP stalwart and former prisoner-of-war was one of the ALP's most respected politicians, known for helping to establish the heritage and conservation movement in Australia.

A member of Mr Uren's family said he had met his death "with the same character and courage he faced the rest of his life".

They said a memorial service would be held in Sydney next week.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described Mr Uren as a "Labor giant".

"Tom Uren was a giant of Australia, a giant of Labor - from his incredibly tough times as a prisoner of war through to his remarkable career as a Labor representative [and] a leading conservationist," he said.

"Our thoughts are with his family. My thoughts are with my Labor colleagues who knew him really well."

Tributes also came from the other side of politics, with Treasurer Joe Hockey saying he was "very sad to hear of Tom Uren's passing. He was widely admired as a very decent man, a beacon of integrity and a genuine true believer".

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Mr Uren had "served Australia throughout his adult life" and said flags would be flown at half-mast on the day of his memorial service.

Wartime experiences propelled Uren into political activism

The former Whitlam and Hawke government minister famously took on big developers, politicians and media heavyweights.

Growing up in Sydney, Mr Uren aspired to be a professional boxer and fought for the Australian heavyweight title at the age of 20, but went on to be best known for fighting the system.

Born on May 28, 1921 in the then working-class suburb of Balmain, he experienced the poverty of the Depression first hand.

A member of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF), Mr Uren was deployed to Timor during World War II.

Taken by the Japanese as a POW, he worked on the Thai-Burma Railway and later witnessed the atomic bombing of Nagasaki from his POW camp in 1945.

"It reminded me of those beautiful crimson skies of sunsets in central Australia but magnified about 10 times stronger," Mr Uren said in a 2008 interview with the ABC's Talking Heads.

His wartime experiences propelled him into a life of political activism and shaped his strong anti-nuclear views.

Mr Uren took to the streets in opposition to nuclear weapons and Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Unafraid to challenge authority, he took a police officer to court for shoving him at a rally in Sydney, but the case was thrown out.

Instead of paying an $80 fine, Mr Uren chose to serve 40 days in jail.

History repeated in 1978 when he refused to accept bail after taking part in an illegal civil liberties rally in Brisbane.

"Going to jail was a part of the protest against the immoral and unjust anti-march laws," Mr Uren said.

Uren defied but also created legislation

But Mr Uren did not just defy legislation, he set out to create it too.

In 1958, he was elected to Parliament as the member for Reid and went on to serve the Sydney electorate for 32 years.

When a Sydney newspaper suggested he had been asking questions in Parliament on behalf of the Russian ambassador, Mr Uren sued media tycoon Frank Packer.

It sparked a six-and-a-half-year legal battle with Mr Packer who eventually settled out of court.

Mr Uren spoke to Talking Heads about that time in his life.

What made me? I think, really, the great strength of my mother. Former Labor minister, Tom Uren

"First of all, it put a lot of grey hairs on my head and the costs were enormous back in those days too, and that used to worry me and I'd get depressed," he said.

With the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, Mr Uren became minister for urban and regional development.

He created new national parks and set up the Register of the National Estate, which recognised natural, Indigenous and historic heritage places.

"My position on the National Estate was that we should preserve things that were unique and beautiful and that we should retain it for posterity - things that were created by humans or by nature," Mr Uren said.

He was deputy leader of the Opposition from 1976 to 1977 but was replaced by Lionel Bowen when Bill Hayden was elected leader.

Under the Hawke Government, Mr Uren was left out of Cabinet and instead given the junior portfolio of Territories and Local Government.

Activism continued after Parliament

Mr Uren retired from Parliament in 1990 and continued his anti-war activities amid the Gulf War.

He visited the Iraqi capital Baghdad to discuss the plight of Australians detained by Iraqi authorities and urged compromise to solve the impasse between Iraq and the United Nations following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

In 2013, Mr Uren received the Companion of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours List, for his work helping veterans and preserving sites of historic and environmental significance.

Mr Uren is survived by his two children, Michael and Heather, and his second wife Christine.

His first wife, Patricia Palmer, died of cancer in 1981.

Mr Uren considered the breakdown of that relationship to be one of the biggest regrets of his life.

When Talking Heads asked Mr Uren what made the man, he replied: "What made me? I think, really, the great strength of my mother, the principles that she put in me and the compassion she gave me".

Topics: death, community-and-society, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia

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