Murray Norris was born at Renmar, South Australia in 1914, one of nine children. Mostly unemployed through the Depression years, he was 26 years old before he got his first permanent job in South Australia doing droving. Unemployed again, he moved to New South Wales and became involved in the unemployed movement. Norris joined the Communist Party of Australia in 1932. Unable to join the RAAF in the Second World War he joined the Australian Workers' Union and worked at Mt. Isa mines and in the Northern Territory. Norris became an organiser of the North Australian Workers' Union (NAWU) in 1945, eventually becoming Secretary and Industrial Advocate for the Union in 1947. From 1949 to 1951 he was President of the NAWU. He later became a waterside worker in the Port of Sydney, joining the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia. Norris was a strong advocate for justice and fair treatment for Aboriginal Australians and gave talks at the University of Queensland to this effect. Norris spent his last days in the home of Mick and Connie Healy before going to hospital. Norris died of cancer on 16 May 1986.