Sir John Michael "Bawra" Higgins GCMG (9 December 1862 – 6 October 1937) was an Australian metallurgist, businessman and political organiser.

Higgins was indentured to a chemist in Bendigo named Garside and afterwards ran a chemicals business of his own, which he sold to become an analyst with a New South Wales mine.

He later became metallurgical chemist to the Australian Smelting Company at Dry Creek, South Australia, and when these works closed down, practised as a consulting metallurgist.

With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Higgins placed his knowledge at the disposal of the Federal Government, and was appointed honorary metallurgical adviser.

He is remembered in the Higgins gallery of the Castlemaine Art Museum,[4] a 1959 extension to the building to house his bequest of objects and artworks that was constructed partly from investments from a sum of £5,000 provided in 1942 by Catherine, his sister.