Don Dunstan
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Don Dunstan |
Donald Allan Dunstan AC QC (
September 21,
1926 â€"
6 February,
1999) was an
Australian politician and
Labor Premier of South Australia between
June 1,
1967, and
April 17,
1968, and subsequently between
June 2,
1970, and
February 15,
1979. A reformist, Dunstan brought profound change to South Australian society: his
progressive reign saw
Aboriginal land rights recognised,
homosexuality decriminalised, the first female judge appointed and anti-discrimination legislation introduced. He is recognised for his role in reinvigorating the social, artistic and cultural life of
South Australia during his nine years in office, remembered as the
Dunstan Decade.
Born in
Fiji to Australian parents, he moved to South Australia where he completed his education at Murray Bridge High School and
St Peters College. He studied a degree in Law at the
University of Adelaide and was active in student organisations. Once graduating, he practised law in Fiji before returning to
Adelaide in 1951. Entering politics as the
Member for Norwood in 1953, he became notorious in Parliament for his strongly worded attacks on the policies of the conservative government. He rose through the Labor Party to become leader of the opposition, and then, through elections in 1967 and 1970, premier. After his abrupt departure from politics in 1979, he spent the rest of his days in his
Norwood home, performing a job in
Melbourne from 1982 to 1986 with Tourism
Victoria.
Dunstan was born on 21 September 1926 in
Suva, Fiji to Australian parents of
Cornish descent. His parents had moved to Fiji in 1916 after his father took up a position as manager of the
Adelaide Steamship Company. He spent the first seven years of his life in Fiji, starting his schooling there. Dunstan was beset by illness, and his parents sent him to South Australia hoping that the drier climate would assist his recovery. He lived in
Murray Bridge for three years with his mother's parents before returning to Suva for a short period. He won a
scholarship in
classical studies and attended the prestigious
St Peters College, a traditional school of the Adelaide Establishment. He developed public speaking and acting skills, winning the College's public speaking prize for two consecutive years. His academic strengths were in classical history and languages, and he disliked mathematics.
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Dunstan is strongly associated with the suburb of Norwood; a memorial in his honour is embedded in the sidewalk outside the Norwood Town Hall (pictured). |
In his youth, influenced by his uncle, former Liberal
Lord Mayor of Adelaide Sir Jonathon Cane, Dunstan was a supporter of the
conservative Liberal and Country League (LCL) and handed out how-to-vote cards for the party at state elections. Dunstan later said of his involvement with the Liberals: "I do not call it snobbery to deride the Establishment in South Australia, I admit that I was brought up into it, and I admit that it gave me a pain."
His political awakening happened during his university years. Studying law at the
University of Adelaide in 1943, he became very active in political organisations, joining the University Socialist Club,
Fabian Society, the Student Representative Council and the Theatre Group. A two-week stint in the
Communist Party was followed by membership in the
Australian Labor Party.
Dunstan was markedly different from the general membership of Labor Party of the time; upon applying for membership at
Trades Hall, a Labor veteran supposedly muttered "how could that long-haired prick be a Labor man?"
His peculiarities were a target of derision by the Labor old guard throughout his early political involvement.
Whilst living in
Norwood and studying at university, Dunstan met his first wife,
Gretel Dunstan (
née Elsasser), whose Jewish family had fled
Nazi Germany to Australia. They married in 1949, and moved after Dunstan graduated to Fiji where he began his career as a lawyer. They returned to Adelaide in 1951 and settled in George Street, Norwood, with the couple's young daughter, Bronwen. The family was forced to live in squalor for a number of years while Dunstan established his legal practice; during this time, they took in boarders as a source of extra income.
Dunstan was nominated as the Labor candidate for the
electoral district of Norwood in 1953. His campaign was noted for his colourful methods to sway voters: posters of his face were placed on every
pole in the district, and Labor supporters patrolled the streets advocating Dunstan. He targeted in particular the large
Italian migrant population of the district, distributing translated copies of an offensive statement the sitting LCL member
Albert Moir had made about immigrants. Moir had commented that "these immigrants are of no use to us â€" a few of them are tradesmen but most of them have no skills at all. And when they intermarry we'll have all the colours of the rainbow". Dunstan won the seat by 2,000 votes and was elected to the
South Australian House of Assembly. His son Andrew was born nine months after the win.
[Electoral District of Norwood, State Electoral Commission Accessed July 22 2006]Dunstan was to become the most vocal opponent of the LCL
Playford Regime, strongly criticising its practice of
electoral malapportionment, known as the
Playmander, a pun on the term
gerrymander. He added colour and flair to debate in South Australian politics, challenging the existing "gentlemanly" method of conducting parliamentary proceedings.
He did not fear direct confrontation with the incumbent government and attacked it with vigour. From 1959 onwards, the LCL government clung to power with the support of two independents, as Labor gained momentum. Always at the forefront, Dunstan lambasted the government for perceived underspending on social welfare, education, health and the arts.
In 1960, Dunstan became president of the State Labor Party. The year also saw the passing of Opposition Leader
Mick O'Halloran and his replacement by
Frank Walsh. Dunstan attempted to win both the position of Opposition Leader and, failing that, Deputy Leader. However, the Labor
caucus was sceptical of his age and inexperience, and he failed to gain either position, albeit narrowly.
Federally, Dunstan, together with fellow Fabian
Gough Whitlam, set about removing the
White Australia policy from the ALP platform. The older trade-unionist-based members of the Labor Party vehemently opposed changing the status quo. However, the "New Guard" of the party, of which Dunstan was a part, were determined to bring about its end. Attempts in 1959 and 1961 failed, with ALP leader
Arthur Calwell stating, "It would ruin the Party if we altered the immigration policy . . . it was only cranks, long hairs, academics and do-gooders who wanted the change". However, Dunstan persisted in his efforts, and in 1965 it was removed from the ALP platform; Dunstan personally took credit for the change. Whitlam would later bring about the comprehensive end of the White Australia policy in 1973 as
Prime Minister.
[Refugee Policies in an Electoral Campaign, Australian Fabian Society Accessed July 23 2006][A Multicultural Landscape, Migration Heritage Centre Accessed July 23 2006][Don Dunstan - 'The end of White Australia', Multicultural Australia Accessed July 23 2006]A gradual yet consistent decline in the vote of the LCL finally saw marginal urban electorates fall to the ALP in the election of 1965. The victorious Labor Party under Frank Walsh gained power; Dunstan became
Attorney-General and Minister of Community Welfare and Aboriginal Affairs. The only cabinet member under fifty, Dunstan had a major impact on Government policy as Attorney-General. Having only narrowly lost out on the leadership in 1960, Dunstan became the obvious successor to the 67-year-old Walsh, who was to retire under ALP rules.
The Walsh Government implemented significant reform in its term of office. Liquor, gambling and entertainment laws were overhauled and liberalised, social welfare was gradually expanded and Aboriginal reserves were created. Strong restrictions on Aboriginal access to liquor were lifted. Women's working rights were granted under the mantra of "equal pay for work of equal value", and racial discrimination legislation was enacted. Town planning was codified in law. Much of the reform was not necessarily radical and was primarily to "fill the gaps" that the previous LCL government had left. The ALP did not have a majority in the
Legislative Council, so some desired legislation did not make it through. Many bills were watered down, but due to public disinterest, outcry was minimal. In particular, the council blocked electoral reform legislation, paving the way for a probable LCL win at the next election.
An economic depression had begun in South Australia after the ALP government gained office in 1965; unemployment went from the lowest in the country to the second highest, while immigration levels dropped. The ALP was not responsible for the depression, although it initially did little to alleviate it. The Liberals seized on this opportunity, blaming it on "twelve months of Socialist administration in South Australia" and branding it the "Dunstan Depression". In the
federal election of 1966, the ALP suffered a swing against it of 11.8% in South Australia, double the national average. The Liberals dropped Playford as the state leader, and the younger
Steele Hall took his place. In a dire situation with the next state election looming, the ALP changed leaders with Walsh standing down in May 1967. Much of the right faction of the ALP was opposed to Dunstan taking the leadership, but no other MPs had the same charisma or eloquence. Eventually, Dunstan won the leadership over
Des Corcoran, winning fourteen votes to eleven on the strength of rural and marginal Laborites.
Dunstan's first Premiership was eventful, with a steady stream of reform and attempts to end the depression. The latter half of 1967 saw the beginnings of a slight recovery, with unemployment dipping and industrial capacity steadying. The 1967â€"68 budget ran into deficit, allocating funds to energise the economic engine whilst Dunstan lambasted the Federal Government for neglecting the South Australian economy, demanding it take a degree of responsibility for its ills.
In preparation for the March 1968 election, the ALP campaigned heavily around its leader and this resonated with voters; in surveys conducted in the metropolitan area, 84% of individuals noted their approval of Dunstan. In a very presidential-esque election campaign, Hall and Dunstan journeyed across the state advocating their platforms. Television saw its first major use in the election, and Dunstan, an astute public speaker, successfully mastered it. Despite winning a 52% majority of the popular vote, Labor lost two seats with the parliament hung: the LCL and ALP each had 18 seats, and one was in the hands of an independent,
Tom Stott. Stott, a conservative, agreed to support the LCL and Hall became Premier.
[Past Elections, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Accessed July 19 2006]There was a degree of speculation in the press that Dunstan would call for a new election because of the adverse outcome. Dunstan, however, realised the futility of such a request and instead sought to humiliate the Hall Government into bringing an end to malapportionment. Protests were held on March 15 in
Light Square. There Dunstan spoke to a crowd of over ten thousand: "We need to show that the people of SA feel that at last the watershed has been reached in this, and that they will not continue to put up with a system which is as undemocratic as the present one in SA."
Dunstan did not resign as premier until April 16 when Parliament sat. When a motion was carried and the LCL had obvious control of the House, only then did he visit the
Governor to resign.
With the end of Playford's tenure, the Liberal and Country League had brought younger, more progressive members to its ranks. The Hall Government continued many of the social reforms that the Walsh/Dunstan governments had initiated; most of these at the instigation of Hall or his Attorney-General,
Robin Millhouse.
Abortion was legalised, with restrictions, and planning for the
Festival Centre began.
The conservative and rural factions of the League were bitterly opposed to some reforms, and more than once did Hall have to rely on ALP support to see bills passed. The LCL began to break apart; what had once been a united party was now factionalised â€" four distinct groups across the political spectrum appeared within the party.
The economy of South Australia began to pick up under Hall, returning to full employment.
Electoral reform was implemented in 1969, although not to the extent that Dunstan and the ALP had wished. The system formerly had 39 seats, one-third from Adelaide. Now, 47 seats were to be contested: 28 in Adelaide and 19 in the country. It was not "one vote one value", but it made an ALP win at the next election possible.
Stott withdrew support in 1970 over the
Chowilla Dam, and South Australia went to the polls. Dunstan won the election easily, taking 27 seats compared to the LCL's 20. The ALP actually saw a slight decline in its vote from 1968; however, the election was clear-cut and Dunstan again became Premier.
Dunstan wasted no time in organising his new ministry, taking several portfolios for himself, and again taking the position of
Treasurer. Deputy Premier
Des Corcoran took on most infrastructure portfolios â€" Marine and Harbours, and Public Works. Corcoran became the face of the Dunstan ministry when reporting to the Labor caucus, having the ability to settle disputes more easily there due to his strong manner.
Bert Shard became Health Minister, overseeing the construction and planning of new, major public hospitals: the
Flinders Medical Centre and
Modbury Hospital.
Hugh Hudson took on the Education portfolio, an important role as the government was determined to bring about profound change to the South Australian education system.
Geoff Virgo, the new Transport Minister, was to deal with the
Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study (MATS) plans. Dunstan formed a strong circle of loyal ministers around him, in a style radically different from his predecessors.
Soon after the election, Dunstan journeyed to
Canberra for the annual Premiers' Conference as the sole Labor Premier. The Government, on a mandate to dramatically increase funding to certain areas, sought to appropriate further finances from the Federal Government. This brought Dunstan into conflict with Prime Minister
John Gorton, and further Commonwealth funds were not received. An appeal was made to the Grants Commission, and Dunstan was awarded more than he had hoped for. Funds were diverted from water-storage schemes in the
Adelaide Hills over the advice of engineers, and cash was taken from the two government-owned banks. The monies were subsequently used to finance health, education and arts schemes.
Upon the death of
Governor James Harrison in 1971, Dunstan finally had the chance to appoint the governor of his choosing:
Mark Oliphant, a
physicist who had worked on the
Manhattan Project.
Dunstan had never been happy that governors were usually
British ex-servicemen; it was a personal goal of his to see an active and notable South Australian take on the role.
In 1972, the first major developments in regard to the state's population growth occured. Studies indicated that Adelaide's population was set to increase to 1.3 million and the
MATS plan and water-storage schemes were in planning to accommodate this. These were summarily rejected by the Dunstan Government, which planned to build a new city 83 kilometres from Adelaide, near
Murray Bridge. The city, to be known as
Monarto, was to be built on farmland there to the west of the existing town. Dunstan was very much against seeing Adelaide sprawl further, and Monarto was a major focus of his government.
[Urban Planning, Atlas of South Australia Accessed July 25 2006] He argued that the new
South Eastern Freeway would make it a 45-minute drive from Adelaide, that the city was not too far from current industry, and that water could be readily supplied from the
River Murray.
The period from 1970 to 1973 saw more legislation passed through the South Australian Parliament than at any other time preceding. The new laws were many and varied: workers saw increases in welfare, drinking laws were further liberalised, police powers were restricted, an
Ombudsman was created, censorship was abolished, the education system was overhauled and the public service was gradually increased â€" it doubled in size during the Dunstan era. The dress code for the
Parliament was relaxed during this period, and MPs started wearing items such as
shorts to proceedings. Dunstan himself caused media frenzy when he arrived at Parliament House dressed in what was described as "flesh-pink hot pants".
In 1972 Dunstan separated from his wife and moved into a small flat in
Kent Town, adjacent to Norwood. The family home was sold as two of the children were already studying in university. In 1974 the couple were finally divorced. Dunstan notes this period as being a "very bleak and lonely" time for him initially.
In absence of his family, he made new friends and acquaintances. Friends living nearby would come to his apartment for conversation and good food â€" cooking was Dunstan's hobby. Dunstan bought another house in 1974, partially financed from a then unpublished cookbook. In 1976,
Don Dunstan's Cookbook was published â€" the first cookbook released by a serving Australian leader.
In pursuit of economic endeavours with the nations of
South-East Asia, Dunstan came into contact with the leaders of the
Malaysian state of
Penang in 1973. Striking a note with Chong Eu Lim, the Chief Minister, Dunstan set about organising cultural and economic engagement between the two states. "Penang Week" was held in Adelaide in July, and in return, "South Australia Week" was held in Penang's capital,
George Town. Earlier, on June 23, the
Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-function performing arts complex, was completed.
[Our History, Adelaide Festival Centre Accessed July 19 2006]The
South Australian Legislative Council, the Upper House in the South Australian Parliament, was, due to its limited
electoral roll, overwhelmingly non-Labor. Unlike the Lower House, its members were elected only by voters who met certain property and wealth requirements. Combined with the remains of the "
Playmander" malapportionment, it was difficult for the Labor Party to achieve the representation it wished. The Legislative Council either watered-down or outright rejected a considerable amount of Labor legislation; bills to legalise homosexuality, abolish
capital punishment and allow gambling and casinos were rejected. This brought Dunstan to call a
snap election in 1973, hoping to gain a mandate to seek changes to the Council. The Labor Party won with 54.5% of the two-party preferred vote and secured 26 seats in the House; it began its first consecutive term with a
minority government.
Dunstan saw reform of the Legislative Council an important goal, and later a prime achievement, of his Government. Labor, as a matter of party policy, wanted to see the Legislative Council abolished. Dunstan, seeing this as unfeasible in his term, set about to reform it instead. Two bills were prepared for Legislative Council reform; one which lowered the voting age to eighteen and introduced
universal suffrage, and another to make councillors elected from a single statewide
electorate under a system of
proportional representation. The LCL initially blocked both bills, stating that it would only accept them if modifications were made to the second one. Changes were conceded; unlike the House of Assembly, voting would not be compulsory and the preference system was to be slightly altered. Once the amendments were made, the legislation was passed. Dunstan described it as "the Labor Party's first great victory in all its long years of fighting for electoral justice."
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'Dunstan to dump Whitlam for SA poll", political cartoon by Stewart McCrae. The state election win was only possible by Dunstan (pictured in the row boat) distancing his government from the Commonwealth. |
Prior to the elections of 1975, Australia, and South Australia in particular, had been hit by a series of economic problems. The
1973 oil crisis had massively increased the cost of living, domestic industry began to erode due to a lack of cost-competitiveness, and government funds were waning. In response, the Dunstan Government sold loss-making railways to the Commonwealth and brought in new taxes to allow wage rises. The changes wrought unexpected consequences; inflation, already high, increased markedly, and workers were still displeased with wages. Dunstan appealed to the electorate and pushed blame onto the
Whitlam Government for South Australia's problems. In a television address days before the election, he said: "My Government is being smeared and it hurts. They want you to think we are not to blame for Canberra's mistakes. The vote on Saturday is not for Canberra, not for Australia, but for South Australia."
The ALP remained the largest party in Parliament, but lost the two-party-preferred vote at 49.2% and saw its numbers decrease by three to 23. The LCL held 20 seats, the
Liberal Movement two, the
Country Party one, and the last remaining with an independent, the nominally Labor Mayor of
Port Pirie,
Ted Connelly. Dunstan appealed to Connelly and offered him the role of
Speaker.
Dunstan continued to try and push through further legislation; he sought to expand on the Hall Government's electoral-boundaries reform, to bring it closer to
one vote one value. The legislation sought to establish 47 electoral districts containing roughly equal numbers of voters with a 10% tolerance. Redistributions were to be presided over by an independent boundaries commission. The bill passed with the support of independent Ted Connelly as well as the two members of the breakaway
Liberal Movement party; former Premier Steele Hall and his Attorney-General Robin Millhouse.
In 1976, the Dunstan Government stepped up its legislative efforts. Some bills, such as the one to remove the
sodomy law and decriminalise male homosexuality, were initially blocked by the Legislative Council.
However, the bill to abolish
capital punishment passed with ease, and the homosexuality law reforms eventually passed in September.
law was properly codified and such an act within marriage was made a crime for the first time in Australia. Shopping hours, previously the most restrictive in the nation, became the most open.
The first signs of Monarto's eventual failure began to appear:
birth rates started dropping significantly, immigration slowed and the economy was stagnant. South Australia's robust population growth, previously the highest per capita among the states, came to an abrupt halt. However, federal and state money continued to be poured into the Monarto project.
In 1973 Adele Koh, a
Malaysian formerly living in
Singapore, was appointed to work for Dunstan. She had been expelled by the Singaporean Government of
Lee Kwan Yew for criticising its policies. The newspaper she had been working for, the
Singapore Herald, was shut down by the government and she then moved to Australia. A relationship developed in 1974 between her and Dunstan, and they were married two years later in a small ceremony at his residence.
After Oliphant's term had expired, Dunstan appointed the first
Indigenous Australian Governor,
Douglas Nicholls, a former football player and clergyman. Following Nicholls' resignation due to ill health in 1977, a second consecutive clergyman took the post,
Methodist Keith Seaman.
[Previous Governors, Governor of South Australia Accessed July 19 2006] Queen Elizabeth and
Prince Phillip made their third visit to South Australia to appoint the new governor and opened the completed Festival Theatre, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor
Walter Crocker and Dunstan.
Dunstan called another snap election in September 1977; he hoped to recover from the previous election, the outcome of which had been affected by the
dismissal of the Federal Labor Government. The ALP won an absolute majority with 51.6% of the vote and 27 seats.
The
South Australian Police had since 1949 a "Special Branch" in its forces for the purposes of surveillance and espionage. Conceived earlier as an "intelligence branch" in 1939 for the purposes of spying on the large
German Australian community in
World War II, it had amassed information on tens of thousands of individuals and organisations. While such an operation was of concern to Dunstan and his government for civil liberty reasons, the bias of it was even more so. It held, in particular, information files on Labor parliamentarians, communists, church leaders and
trade unionists. It also had files relating to Liberal figures, but these were of lesser number. Only two Labor MPs, from both federal and state parliaments, did not have files. Dunstan had known of the existence of the branch since 1970, when he was told by Police Commissioner Harold Salisbury that it predominantly focused on politically motivated violence.
An inquiry was conducted into the branch by Justice White of the
Supreme Court of South Australia, and the report was placed in Dunstan's hands on
21 December 1977. After reviewing the report, Dunstan sacked Police Commissioner Salisbury in January and threatened to release the report to the public. However, Salisbury had a reputation as a man of integrity, and controversy erupted regarding the inquiry and Dunstan's actions. A
Royal Commission investigated at the instigation of the Liberals. The Inquiry cleared the Dunstan Government of any error, as it had not known about the Special Branch's activities earlier. Salisbury retired to the
United Kingdom with a $160,000 payout; a book,
The Salisbury Affair by Stewart Cockburn, was written about the debacle.
[Political surveillance and the South Australian Police, Australian Institute of Criminology Accessed July 26 2006]Dunstan's wife Adele was diagnosed with advanced
lung cancer in May 1978. She died in October after Dunstan had cared for her at her bedside for months; her passing seriously affected him and his own health began to suffer.
After returning from
Europe to study safe methods of
nuclear power during the Australian summer, Dunstan was extremely ill. When Parliament resumed, he collapsed on the floor of the House and was forced to use a walking stick for movement; his
physician advised him that he required six months of rest to recover. The Liberal Opposition seized on the state of affairs and charged that the Labor Party was "as ailing as the man who led it". In a planned and theatrical press conference on February 15, 1979, Dunstan announced his retirement as premier from his room in
Calvary Hospital whilst shaking and wearing a dressing gown.
[Don Dunstan The Obituary; A nation's valued voice of change, The Advertiser (Adelaide). February 8 1999.] |
Don Dunstan's Memoirs, Felicia |
After Dunstan's resignation as premier, deputy
Des Corcoran took his place and called an election. Corcoran's lack of media-savvy and the public's widespread dissatisfaction with the economy and bus strikes brought about an 11% swing against Labor, leaving the party with only 19 seats.
The
Tonkin Liberal Government came to power and began reducing the size of the public service and abandoned the Monarto project. Dunstan took a trip to Europe after being released from hospital, and subsequently became increasingly disillusioned with South Australian political affairs.
His memoirs, entitled
Felicia, were published in 1981.
He moved to the neighbouring state of
Victoria and became the Director of Tourism until 1986, when he returned to Adelaide. He was national president of the
Freedom from Hunger Campaign (
1982â€"
87), president of the
Movement for Democracy in Fiji (from
1987), and national chairman of
Community Aid Abroad (
1992â€"
93). Dunstan was an
adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide from 1997 until 1999.
In his retirement, Dunstan continued to be passionate critic of
economic rationalism (
neoliberalism) and
privatisation, particularly of South Australia's water, gas and
electricity supplies. During the 1990s he wrote essays for the
Adelaide Review magazine strongly criticising both the Federal Labor Governments of
Bob Hawke and
Paul Keating, the Federal Liberal Government of
John Howard and the State Liberal Governments of
Dean Brown and
John Olsen. He remained an advocate for
multiculturalism and cultural diversity, often writing about the dangers of
racism.
In 1986 he met his future partner, Stephen Cheng, with whom he opened a restaurant called "Don's Table" in 1994. He lived with Cheng in their Norwood home until his death from cancer on
February 6,
1999. A public memorial service was held on 9 February at the
Adelaide Festival Centre as a tribute to Dunstan's love of the arts. In attendance were former Labor Prime Ministers
Gough Whitlam and
Bob Hawke, Federal Opposition Leader
Kim Beazley, Premier
John Olsen, and State Opposition Leader
Mike Rann. Thousands more gathered outside the centre in
Elder Park along the banks of the
River Torrens.
[Private service for Don Dunstan today, AAP General News Australia. February 9, 1999.] A private service was held for close family and friends later in the day. State flags were flown at half-mast and the memorial service was televised live. A theatre in the Festival Centre was renamed the Dunstan Playhouse.
[Don Dunstan; No more fitting memorial, The Advertiser {Adelaide}. February 12, 1999]The Don Dunstan Foundation was established shortly before his death to push for progressive change and to honour Dunstan's memory.
[About, Don Dunstan Foundation Accessed July 20 2006]*
*
Donald Allan Dunstan, Parliament of South Australia*
Don Dunstan Foundation*
Don Dunstan, Flinders Rangers Research*
Dunstan Collection, Flinders University Library*
Dunstan Biography, Flinders University Library
