George Enticknap

Who was George Enticknap?

The Hon. Ambrose George Enticknap was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1941 until 1965. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party and held numerous ministerial positions between 1950 and 1965.

Enticknap was born in St Kilda, Victoria and was educated to elementary level at state schools in rural Victoria. He initially worked as a farm hand in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and was an official in the Australian Workers' Union between 1915 and 1923.He eventually owned a small orchard and was an official in the local fruitgrowers' co-operative associations. Enticknap was a councillor on the Willimbong Shire Council between 1928 and 1938 and was Shire President in 1938. After two unsuccessful attempts, Enticknap was elected to the New South Wales Parliament as the Independent Labor member for Murrumbidgee at the 1941 state election. The sitting Country Party member, Robert Hankinson had retired and, while the official Labor candidate was Joseph Fitzgerald, Enticknap received significant support from the party and was allowed to join the caucus after the election. He held the seat for the next 7 elections until he retired at the 1965 state election. He was the chairman of the Labor Party caucus between 1950 and 1965. During the premierships of Joseph Cahill, Robert Heffron and Jack Renshaw he held numerous ministerial positions including Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Conservation and Minister for Transport.