It is ironic that the writer of this the most famous of the Australian Wobbly songs might not have actually ever been a member of the Industrial Workers of the World at any stage in his long and militant career. Still he was certainly close enough in the World War One days that a person not having access to the records might be forgiven the mistake. If not a member of the organisation was certainly a part of the radical proletarian cultural mix that the union created. He was active in the anti-conscription movement and for the imprisoned IWW twelve.
After the war he found his spiritual home in the Socialist Party of Australia and was a prominent activist in the Seaman’s Union. He was Brisbane Branch Secretary of the latter when he died in December 1949
