He was a Senator for Tasmania from 1947 to 1953, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP) until his resignation in 1953 and unsuccessful bid for re-election as an independent.

An outspoken socialist and pacifist, his opposition to attempts to ban the Communist Party and Australian involvement in the Korean War caused difficulties for the ALP as it sought to counter Red Scare tactics.

[1] Morrow was involved in the labour movement from a young age and in 1908 joined the Queensland Workers' Political Organization, the predecessor to the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

He joined the Amalgamated Workers' Association (AWA) in 1911 and was blacklisted for a period for taking part in the 1912 Brisbane general strike.

[1] In 1921, the QRU merged into the federal Australian Railways Union (ARU) and Morrow was appointed secretary of the North Queensland district, based in Townsville.

[4] Morrow's left-wing views brought him into conflict with the ALP state government of Albert Ogilvie on several occasions.

In response, the ARU repudiated the actions of the ALP and announced that "the time has come when a true Working Class Party should be formed".

[8] In July 1938, Morrow secured the passage of an anti-war motion at the state conference of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

[11] In his maiden speech to the Senate, Morrow "declared his socialist faith" and stated "I do not pretend to represent the whole of the people of Tasmania.

[1] In the early 1950s, following the ALP's defeat at the 1949 election, Morrow opposed the Menzies government's attempt to ban the Communist Party.

[1] His outspoken views caused difficulties for the ALP as its opponents employed Red Scare tactics; at the 1951 election the Liberal Party campaigned in Tasmania on the slogan "Menzies or Moscow".

[1] Prior to the 1953 half-Senate election, Tasmanian premier Robert Cosgrove persuaded the ALP state executive to remove Morrow from the party's ticket.

[14] On 9 April 1953, Morrow announced that he had resigned from the ALP to sit as an independent senator and would re-contest his seat at the head of the Tasmanian Labour Group ticket.

[15] His disendorsement prompted "widespread anger in the labour movement" and led the party's federal leader H. V. Evatt to offer him a position on his staff in an attempt at conciliation, which Morrow rejected.

[16][17] The group polled less than six percent of the vote at the Senate election and soon disbanded,[14] with Morrow making no attempts to resume his parliamentary career.

He served on the national executive of the society and as Queensland state president, visiting China three times at the invitation of the Chinese government.

[1] A biography of Morrow titled Fly a Rebel Flag was published in 1986, based on a series of interviews author Audrey Johnson conducted with him shortly before his death.