John (Jack) Melloy (10 November 1908 – 6 January 2006) was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for the Australian Labor Party.
During World War II, he was a Staff Sergeant for the Australian Army Dental Corps from 1942 to 1946.
He had also done some part-time work as a Bookie's Clerk at the main Brisbane race venues (no doubt to help feed his 7 hungry children - all of them voracious eaters.)
[1] His interest in socialist politics was influenced by his mother's trade unionist cousin Walter Russell Crampton, who famously did himself out of a job by voting in favour of the abolition the Queensland Legislative Council (the upper house of parliament), of which he was a member.
Jack Melloy first ran for public office in 1949 as a Labor candidate for Buranda in Brisbane City Council elections[1] but was unsuccessful.
[3] He also served as shadow minister for Health, Police, and Aboriginal Affairs, for some time starting round about 1975.
In 1974 Melloy was elected deputy leader of the State Labor Party, defeating Keith Wright and Jack Houston.
[3] In 1989 his daughter Noela Pemberton was the Labor candidate in the State electorate of Aspley being defeated by about 400 votes, after outpolling a sitting National Party State Government Minister and a Liberal Party Local Government Councillor on the primary vote.