Don Taylor (Australian politician)

The Honourable
Don Taylor
AM
Deputy Premier of Western Australia
In office
30 May 1973  8 April 1974
Premier John Tonkin
Preceded by Herb Graham
Succeeded by Ray McPharlin
Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia
In office
23 March 1968  31 August 1984
Preceded by Henry Curran
Succeeded by Clive Hughes
Constituency Cockburn
Administrator of Christmas Island
In office
4 August 1986  24 February 1990
Preceded by Tom Paterson
Succeeded by Bill McKenzie
Personal details
Born (1928-01-24) 24 January 1928
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia
Political party Labor

Alexander Donald "Don" Taylor AM (born 24 January 1928) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1968 to 1984, representing the seat of Cockburn. He served as Deputy Premier of Western Australia from 1973 to 1974, under John Tonkin.

Taylor was born in Kalgoorlie, but raised in Perth, attending Perth Modern School. He was a state-level basketball player in his youth. Taylor studied teaching at the University of Western Australia and Claremont Teachers College, and worked as a schoolteacher from 1959 to 1962, before gaining a job as a rural education officer with the Junior Farmers' Council.[1] A member of the Labor Party from 1956, he was elected to parliament at the 1968 state election, replacing the retiring Henry Curran as the member for Cockburn.[2] Taylor increased his majority at the 1971 election, which saw the election of a Labor government, and was subsequently made Minister for Housing and Minister for Labour in the Tonkin ministry.[1]

Following a ministerial reshuffle in October 1971, Taylor's titles were Minister for Labour, Minister for Prices Control, and Minister for Tourism. He was additionally made Minister for Immigration in February 1973.[1] In May 1973, Herb Graham stepped down as deputy leader of the Labor Party, with Taylor being elected as his replacement and consequently being appointed deputy premier. He served as deputy premier until Labor's defeat at the 1974 election, a term of less than a year (the shortest term of any Deputy Premier of Western Australia).[3] After the election, Taylor was replaced as deputy Labor leader by Colin Jamieson. He remained in the shadow ministry until 1980, serving under three leaders of the opposition (John Tonkin, Colin Jamieson, and Ron Davies). Taylor retired from parliament in August 1984, and subsequently headed several state government agencies. From 1986 to 1990, he served as Administrator of Christmas Island, an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Alexander Donald Taylor – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, [W.A.]: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0730984095.
  3. Deputy Premiers of Western Australia – Parliamentary Library Western Australia. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
Parliament of Western Australia
Preceded by
Henry Curran
Member for Cockburn
1968–1984
Succeeded by
Clive Hughes
Political offices
Preceded by
Herb Graham
Deputy Premier
1973–1974
Succeeded by
Ray McPharlin
Preceded by
Des O'Neil
Minister for Housing
1971
Succeeded by
Arthur Bickerton
Preceded by
Des O'Neil
Minister for Labour
1971–1973
Succeeded by
John Harman
Preceded by
Ron Davies
Minister for Prices Control
1971–1973
Succeeded by
John Harman
Preceded by
Ron Davies
Minister for Consumer Protection
1971–1973
Succeeded by
John Harman
Preceded by
Tom Evans
Minister for Tourism
1971–1973
Succeeded by
Ronald Thompson
Preceded by
Arthur Griffith
Minister for Immigration
1973
Succeeded by
John Harman
Preceded by
Herb Graham
Minister for Development and Decentralisation
1973–1974
Succeeded by
Charles Court
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.