Peter Black

As Broken Hill’s longest-standing Mayor, Peter Black held the office for 19 years. Alderman, Labour Councillor and outspoken advocate for his community during his time in Council, Black’s admiration for the people of Broken Hill and his loyalty to his constituency gave him and the city a reputation for fighting to the end. 

Born in Sydney in 1943 and educated at Sydney Boys Technical, Peter Black received a Bachelor of Science at the University of New South Wales. 

Peter Black developed a reputation in high school for challenging those in authority, and by the time he was at university his rebellious nature had fully emerged. He joined demonstrations and became involved with the Communist Party. He was invited to appear on a Channel 10 debate on Apartheid against the Ambassador for South Africa, which was the first public platform for his rebellious spirit and his Marxist and Socialist convictions which, he says, he inherited from his grandmother. 

In 1969 he was posted to Broken Hill to take up a position as a Science teacher at Willyama High School where he stayed for 30 years and by 1984, was Science Master. 

With an appetite for activism and his involvement in the Teachers’ Federation, it wasn’t long before he became involved in local politics, with his outspoken Labour ideals and his energy for supporting his community. Elected as Council Alderman in 1977 Black served as Mayor of Broken Hill from 1980 until 1999. He represented the Murray-Darling for the Australian Labor Party from 1999 to 2007. His achievements in public office include starting the heritage program in 1983, also the beginning of the verandah restoration program, that started with replacing the veranda of the historic Palace Hotel on Argent Street. He successfully campaigned to prevent McDonald's from opening in the centre of the city and was instrumental in leaving the council debt-free. 

In his long and impressive career, Peter Black was involved in numerous community projects and associations and sat on many committees. He was Chairman of Broken Hill’s Year of Art Committee, and the Broken Hill Centenary Committee (1983). He was President and Secretary of the Barrier Teachers' Association, Chairman of the Bush Children's Hostels Assoc., the Future of Broken Hill Task Force and the North South Highway Task Force. He was also Member of the Broken Hill and District Adult Education Council, and Executive Chair of the New South Wales Year of the Outback (2002) Steering Committee. 

In 1995 Peter Black was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to Local Government.  

Peter Black’s love for the people of Broken Hill and the city itself has been his greatest motivator. In his own words: “Whatever I've done for Broken Hill, Broken Hill's done a lot more for me.”