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Denis Murphy was a respected and gifted academic at the University of Queensland from 1966 to 1983.
After completing a Ph.D. at the University of Queensland he went on to become a lecturer in the Department of History, teaching courses in Australian History.
By the age of 47, Murphy’s contribution to documenting the labour history of Queensland was outstanding. He wrote or edited eleven publications including the award-winning biography of Queensland Labor Premier, T.J. Ryan.
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Murphy was instrumental in the reform of the Queensland ALP in the late 1970s, becoming President of the Party in 1980. In 1983 he was elected to the State seat of Stafford.
Murphy’s untimely death in 1984 was a great loss to Queensland. To quote Ross Fitzgerald and Harold Thornton in their book Labor in Queensland:
'Murphy was never able to realise his promise as a potential state Labor leader approximating the calibre of his hero T.J. Ryan'. (Labor in Queensland : 1976)
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