Clarence Isaac Doust (3 August 1885 – 19 April 1961) was an Australian farmer and politician who was an independent member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1936 to 1939, representing the seat of Nelson. Doust was born in Balbarrup,

(near Manjimup), to Mary (née Needes) and Abraham Doust. After leaving school, he was employed as a secretary by the Warren Road Board, as well as having his own farm. Doust enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1916, and served in France with a medical unit. He returned to Australia after the war's end, working for periods as an Agricultural Bank inspector and land valuer before returning to his previous position as road board secretary.Clarence Isaac Doust
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2016. Doust was a supporter of the

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

movement (although not associated with its political arm), and was president of the local chapter. At the 1936 state election, Doust ran for parliament and defeated Jack Smith (a 15-year incumbent) with 57.1 percent of the

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

vote. After the election, Doust announced that he would give "general support" to the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government of

Philip Collier Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Aus ...

, adding to its narrow majority."State Politics Provide Sensations"
''Toodyay Herald'', 4 September 1936. However, his time in parliament was short-lived, as he placed only third on

first preferences In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

at the 1939 state election and had his seat reclaimed by Smith. Doust returned to farming after his defeat, and died in Manjimup in April 1961, aged 75. He had married Agnes Helen Giblett in 1909, with whom he had five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doust, Clarence 1885 births 1961 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian social crediters Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Manjimup, Western Australia