George Paciullo

Who was George Paciullo?

George Paciullo, OAM was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Liverpool in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1989, and served as a minister from 1984 to 1988.

Paciullo was born in Sydney to market gardener Sisto Paciullo and his wife Immacolata, who had come to Australia from Calabria during the Great Depression. He attended public schools at Liverpool and Homebush, and was employed as a survey draftsmen with the New South Wales Soil Conservation Service upon his graduation in 1951. He underwent national service in 1952 and subsequently served in the Citizen Military Forces for three years. In 1958, he joined the Australian Labor Party, and the following year was elected to Liverpool City Council. On 3 November 1964, he married Janette Blinman, with whom he had a son named Murray. He continued as both a draftsman and a councillor until 1971.

In 1971, the member for the local state seat of Liverpool, Jack Mannix, retired, and Paciullo was preselected as the replacement Labor candidate. He was elected easily, and was never troubled in his own electorate. In 1973 he became Shadow Minister for Sport, Recreation and Tourism.