Don Chipp | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 1974 | |
| Leader of the Australian Democrats | |
| In office 9 May 1977 – 18 August 1986 | |
| Deputy | Colin Mason Janine Haines |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Succeeded by | Janine Haines |
| Minister for Health | |
| In office 11 November 1975 – 22 December 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
| Preceded by | Doug Everingham |
| Succeeded by | Ralph Hunt |
| Minister for Repatriation and Compensation | |
| In office 11 November 1975 – 22 December 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
| Preceded by | John Wheeldon |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Newman |
| Minister for Social Security | |
| In office 11 November 1975 – 22 December 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
| Preceded by | John Wheeldon |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Guilfoyle |
| Minister for Customs and Excise | |
| In office 12 November 1969 – 5 December 1972 | |
| Prime Minister | John Gorton William McMahon |
| Preceded by | Malcolm Scott |
| Succeeded by | Gough Whitlam |
| Minister-in-charge of Tourist Activities | |
| In office 14 December 1966 – 28 February 1968 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Holt John McEwen John Gorton |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Reg Wright |
| Minister for Defence Minister for the Navy | |
| In office 14 December 1966 – 28 February 1968 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Holt John McEwen John Gorton |
| Preceded by | Fred Chaney |
| Succeeded by | Bert Kelly |
| Senator forVictoria | |
| In office 1 July 1978 – 18 August 1986 | |
| Succeeded by | Janet Powell |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forHotham | |
| In office 25 October 1969 – 10 November 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Roger Johnston |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forHiginbotham | |
| In office 10 December 1960 – 25 October 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Timson |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Donald Leslie Chipp (1925-08-21)21 August 1925 |
| Died | 28 August 2006(2006-08-28) (aged 81) Richmond, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Democrat (after 1977) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (1955–1958; 1977) Liberal (1958–1977) |
| Spouses | |
| Education | Northcote High School |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Consultancy companychairman (Donald L. Chipp & Co.) Chief executive officer (CPA Australia) |
| Profession | Businessman Politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Branch/service | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Donald Leslie Chipp,AO (21 August 1925 – 28 August 2006) was an Australian politician who was the inaugural leader of theAustralian Democrats, leading the party from 1977 to 1986. He began his career as a member of theLiberal Party, winning election to theHouse of Representatives in 1960 and serving as a government minister for a cumulative total of six years. Chipp left the Liberals in 1977 and was soon persuaded to lead a new party, the Democrats who, he famously proclaimed in 1980, would "keep the bastards honest". He was elected to theSenate on 10 December 1977 and led the party at four federal elections. From1983 it held the sole balance of power in the Senate. He retired from Parliament in 1986, having served a total of 25 years.
Don Chipp was born in Melbourne and educated atNorthcote Primary School,Northcote High School and theUniversity of Melbourne, where he graduated in commerce. After playingAustralian rules football forHeidelberg, he played briefly in theVictorian Football League with theFitzroy Football Club (playing three games in 1947, for one goal). He also played forPrahran in theVFA and was a member of their 1951 premiership side. A champion sprinter, he was narrowly defeated in the 1953Stawell Gift foot race.[1]: 17
After serving in theRoyal Australian Air Force in World War II, Chipp worked as registrar of the Commonwealth Institute of Accountants from 1950 to 1955. In 1955, he was appointed chief executive officer of the Olympic Civic Committee which was involved in organising the1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Later, he worked as manager of the Victorian Promotion Committee, and he also ran his own management consultancy. From 1958 to 1961, he was a member of theKew City Council.
Chipp entered federal politics in 1960 as theLiberal member forHiginbotham in Melbourne's southern bayside suburbs. Higinbotham was abolished in 1969, and Chipp followed most of his constituents into the new seat ofHotham. He was given the Navy and Tourism portfolios by Prime MinisterHarold Holt in 1967. AfterHolt's sudden disappearance in December 1967, Chipp retained those portfolios in the brief interim government ofCountry Party leaderJohn McEwen, but he was dropped from the ministry by the new Liberal Prime Minister,John Gorton. That was partly because Chipp had supported another candidate,Billy Snedden, in the Liberal leadership ballot and partly because Chipp did not support a secondRoyal Commission into the 1964Voyager disaster, which Gorton felt reflected badly on theRoyal Australian Navy.[2][3]
After the1969 election, Gorton appointed Chipp as Minister for Customs and Excise. In that portfolio, he gained national attention by largely abolishing the censorship of printed material, unbanning many novels, includingHenry Miller'sTropic of Cancer, as well as allowing the sale ofPlayboy magazine. He also oversaw the introduction of the R certificate for films in 1970, which allowed previously banned films to be rerated and shown to adults. The actions made him widely popular but were disapproved of by more conservative Liberal Party colleagues who identified him as a "small-l liberal", along with Snedden andAndrew Peacock.
Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the1972 election by theLabor Party'sGough Whitlam, Chipp served as Shadow Minister for Social Security. He was a strong supporter of Snedden, who had become party leader following the 1972 defeat but lost the1974 election against Whitlam. WhenMalcolm Fraser displaced Snedden as leader in March 1975, Chipp retained his position, but it was no secret that the two men did not get on. When Fraser was appointed prime minister following thedismissal ofGough Whitlam on 11 November 1975, he gave Chipp three portfolios in his caretaker ministry:Social Security,Health, andRepatriation and Compensation. However, when Fraser won theelection the next month, Chipp was not included in the ministry.
In his bookThe Third Man, Chipp considered the effects of a "whispering campaign" to discredit him within the Liberal Party. That came to a head on 8 March 1977 when he spoke at a heavily attendedCitizens for Democracy meeting at theSydney Town Hall with other controversial speakers includingFrank Hardy,Patrick White,Donald Horne andFaith Bandler. He writes "Liberals thought it was intolerable that any member of the party should appear with 'those people'". Chipp concluded: "It was then, I believe, that I concluded I could not stay in such a party any longer. I resented the tag of 'rebel' which was being applied to me by my own colleagues."[1]: 177–178 The rebellious image was heightened by the fact that Chipp omitted to attend a Parliament House reception for QueenElizabeth II. He had decided to honour his prior speaking engagement, which had been widely publicised. The meeting, attended by 5,000, "almost went out of control when I stated that Sir John Kerr had no alternative than to act as he did on 11 November 1975. Donald Horne pleaded for order, saying "This man deserves a hearing; he is putting his political career on the line by speaking here."[1]: 178
Chipp decided to resign from the Liberal Party on 24 March 1977 and concluded his speech that day with the following:
I have become disenchanted with party politics as they are practised in this country and with the pressure groups which have an undue influence on the major political parties. The parties seem to polarise on almost every issue, sometimes seemingly just for the sake of it, and I wonder if the ordinary voter is not becoming sick and tired of the vested interests which unduly influence political parties and yearns for the emergence of a third political force, representing middle-of-the-road policies which would owe allegiance to no outside pressure group. Perhaps it may be the right time to test that proposition.[1]: 178
Even before the resignation, he received an invitation to join the amalgamated Centre-Line Party, which predated theAustralian Democrats.[4] He resolutely turned down a series of such leadership offers until, on 9 May 1977, he was accorded an overwhelming standing ovation by a 3,000-strong audience at theMelbourne Town Hall. The meeting was attended by former prime minister John Gorton and chaired by South Australian Governor SirMark Oliphant. Speakers includedRobin Millhouse,Charles Birch andJohn Siddons.[5] Chipp concluded, "... I was committed ... and it was a good feeling”.
At theDecember 1977 election, Chipp was elected to theAustralian Senate as a Democrats candidate, with one colleague (Colin Mason of New South Wales). As Democrats leader, Chipp was involved in various high-profile environmental and social-justice causes, including playing an important role in stopping theFranklin Dam project.[6]
At the1980 election, the Democrats gained three more senators, giving them a total of five. They held a potentialbalance of power, which they retained for most of the time until 1 July 2005, after a total lack of success at the2004 election. Their theoretical ability to reject or amend government legislation was seldom applied, as it was dependent on rare support from other non-government senators. It was, however, a useful avenue for publicity and effective Senate committee dealings outside the chamber.[6]
Chipp resigned from the Senate on 18 August 1986,[6] being succeeded as leader byJanine Haines and replaced as a senator byJanet Powell.
From 1988 to 1990, Chipp conducted a regulartalkback program on Melbourne radio station3AK.
He ran unsuccessfully for election as theLord Mayor of Melbourne in 2001. In his later years, he suffered fromParkinson's disease, but he still made a number of public appearances, most notably on the ABC chat showEnough Rope with Andrew Denton. He also gave an opening address to the Democrats' national conference in Melbourne in May 2006.
Chipp died ofpneumonia in August 2006 atEpworth Hospital in Melbourne. Astate funeral service was held on 2 September 2006 for him.Australian flags were flown athalf-mast all day in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory in his honour.
Chipp was married twice.
On 27 October 1951, he married Monica Lalor. With her support, Chipp stood and won a seat on the Kew City Council which he held from 1955 to 1961, and was encouraged- at that time – to become an active member of theLiberal Party. They had four children.
Chipp and Lalor divorced in 1979, and Chipp married Idun Welz later that same year. They had two children.
His eldest son, Greg Chipp, establishedDrug Law Reform Australia, a political party focused on thedecriminalisation of illegal drugs, and contested the2013 and2016 federal elections. Don Chipp's youngest daughter, Laura Chipp, contested the2017 by-election in the Victorian electorate ofNorthcote, representing theReason Party (formerly known as the Australian Sex Party).
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister for the Navy 1966–1968 | Succeeded by |
| New title | Minister in charge of Tourist Activities 1966–1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Customs and Excise 1969–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Social Security 1975 | Succeeded by |
| Minister for Repatriation and Compensation 1975 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Minister for Health 1975 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| Preceded by | Member forHiginbotham 1960–1969 | Division abolished |
| New division | Member forHotham 1969–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by No party precursor | Senator forVictoria 1978–1986 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| New political party | Leader of theAustralian Democrats 1977–1986 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
