[2] Cremean's family were active in local Labor politics, with both his mother and uncle having served as mayor of the City of Richmond.

In 1929, Cremean sought preselection for the Victorian lower house seat of Richmond, but was defeated in controversial circumstances by Ted Cotter.

[3] Cremean then sought and won preselection for the seat of Dandenong, and defeated the incumbent Nationalist member and railways minister Frank Groves at the 1929 state election.

Although he would not live to see the Australian Labor Party split of 1955 which resulted, Cremean was the person who suggested the formation of the group, and worked closely with B.

[8] In 1945, Cremean underwent surgery for a long-standing colonic fistula at Mount St Evin's Hospital in Fitzroy, but he contracted peritonitis and died on 24 May.