Manfred Douglas Cross is a retired Australian politician. He was educated at various state schools in Brisbane in Queensland before joining the Queensland public service and later, in 1961, becoming a member of the Australian parliament. Along with Bill Hayden and Doug McClelland, Cross is the earliest elected Labor MP still alive.
Born in Brisbane, Cross was the son of Manfred Cross, a telegraphist, and Mary McLennan, a dressmaker. He went to in Rainworth in the inner Brisbane suburb of Bardon before attending Brisbane State High School. He later studied at the University of Queensland before becoming a Queensland state public servant, joining the Queensland Treasury in 1951. Later, on 11 July1969 he married Barbara who, like Manfred, had been active in Labor Party circles in Queensland. In January 1992 Cross was awarded an AM in recognition of his .
Cross held the seat of Brisbane until 1975. In the federal election that year he was defeated by Liberal challenger Peter Johnson amid Labor's meltdown in Queensland in the election; Labor was cut down to only one seat in Queensland with Hayden holding on narrowly for Labor in Oxley. Although Cross led Johnson in early voting, he did not win a clear majority on the first count. The seat was decided after the allocation of preferences. In the third round of preferential counting, a National Country candidate's preferences flowed overwhelmingly to Johnson. The National Country Party had begun contesting seats in the Brisbane area in order to broaden its base.
Later elections and political life
During the 1970s and later, Cross was active in efforts to reform the Labor Party in Queensland. Following a severe loss that the Labor Party suffered in the state election in Queensland in 1974, there was growing support for reform of the organisation of the party. Cross, along with colleagues such as Peter Beattie, Di Fingleton, Kevin Hooper and Denis Murphy, was one of the activists who supported moves for change. In March 1980the National Executive of the Labor Party intervened in the management of the party at the state level and appointed Manfred Cross as an interim Queensland Branch Secretary to help guide the reform process. During this period, Cross continued to work for reelection to the national parliament as the member for Brisbane. He narrowly lost to Peter Johnson in a 1977 rematch but succeeded in regaining the seat in 1980 when there was a nation-wide swing towards Labor with Hayden as leader. Cross remained in the parliament as a member of the House of Representatives until his retirement in 1990.
