Scott Morrison's link to the lefty on the $10 note: How the PM's famous relative worked for the Communist Party and became too radical for the union that gave Australia Bill Shorten
By STEPHEN GIBBS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 20:31 EDT, 11 May 2019 | UPDATED: 20:33 EDT, 11 May 2019
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's relative Dame Mary Gilmore was a socialist crusader and poet who wrote for the Communist Party newspaper Tribune.
She was the first female member of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), which Labor leader Bill Shorten later headed, and campaigned for the welfare of the disadvantaged all her life.
Mr Morrison knows his great great aunt would not have agreed with his political views but is proud of the family connection to the woman on the $10 note.
Dame Mary (1865-1962) was a bush teacher who became heavily involved in the labour movement and other social causes in Sydney in the 1890s.
She championed nationalism, worker's rights, feminism, Aboriginal welfare, pensions and health care. Her views eventually became too radical for the AWU of her time.
Dame Mary's image has appeared on $10 bills since 1993 and her most famous poem, No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest, is printed in micro form on the note.
Before taking leadership of the Liberal Party, Mr Morrison was best known for 'stopping the boats' as Immigration Minister and cracking down on welfare cheats in the Social Services portfolio.
Mr Morrison told Daily Mail Australia a Queensland man recently wrote a poem (published below) about him called 'Billy Gilmore's Ringer', referring to his uncle, Dame Mary's grandson.
'It's a nice poem,' he said. 'I got quite misty when I read it. I got all sentimental.'
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6974675/Scott-Morrisons-poet-aunt-socialist-crusader-face-10-note.html