Fred Moore

Fred Moore (5 September 1922 – 21 January 2022) was an Australian activist for workers' rights, trade unionist and author who was associated with the South Coast of New South Wales, in particular the Mount Kembla area. He had a significant career in the mining industry for over fifty years. Early life Moore was born in Cobar, New South Wales, on 5 September 1922. He entered the mining industry at age fourteen. Activism He was heavily involved in the trade union movement and the Miners' Federation, and became a key figure in campaigning for workers' rights in Australia, as well as agitating for Aboriginal rights. As a result, he was initiated as an Aboriginal tribal elder in the Illawarra, as well as a blood-brother to the Jerrinja people. He was known to local Kooris and other activists as "dad". Moore served as chairman of the May Day Committee for over twenty years, and was bestowed life-member status of the Miners Federation and the Miners' Women's Auxiliary. Prior to his death, he was the only living man to have been made an honorary member of this movement. Writings Moore co-authored, with Ray Harrison and Paddy Gorman, two books on the oral history of mining; At the Coalface (1997), and Back at the Coalface (2008). He appeared in the 2008 documentary Beneath Black Skies, on mining history in the South Coast of NSW, Australia, as one of the interview subjects.