David Bernard Vigor (26 June 1939 – 9 April 1998) was a member of the Australian Senate, representing the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australi ...

and the

Unite Australia Party The Unite Australia Party (UAP) was a short-lived Australian political party that existed in the late 1980s. In December 1986, Senator John Siddons, former deputy leader of the Australian Democrats, quit the Democrats to form the UAP, arguing tha ...

. Born in

Elbeuf Elbeuf () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A light industrial town situated by the banks of the Seine some south of Rouen at the junction of the D7, D321 and the D313 roads. The ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

to an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

mother and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

father, the infant Vigor and his family caught the last ferry to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

prior to the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After returning to France at war's end, the Vigor family migrated to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, Australia in 1951. Vigor attended

Adelaide Boys High School Adelaide High School is a coeducational state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Parklands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government high school in South Austral ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

, graduating in pure mathematics and French, and then transferred to

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

as one of its first intake of research students. It was here Vigor met his future wife, Susan. Following his period at Monash, Vigor lectured in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

for three years while he conducted ground breaking research into data representation and machine intelligence, placing him at the forefront of

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

research. After a period based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

working as a consultant on IT and data collection issues, Vigor returned to Adelaide in 1971 as the director of the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Austral ...

) Computer Centre. Vigor joined the Liberal Movement soon after its formation and drafted its education and rural policies. Following the party's dissolution, Vigor joined the

New LM The New Liberal Movement (New LM) was a South Australian political party which existed from 1976 to 1977, with one member of parliament. In 1976 the Liberal Movement dissolved and three of its four parliamentary members rejoined the Liberal ...

Robin Millhouse Robin Rhodes Millhouse, QC (9 December 1929 – 28 April 2017) was, at various times, the 39th Attorney-General of South Australia, the first Australian Democrats parliamentarian, and the Chief Justice of both Kiribati and Nauru and a judge of ...

and was heavily involved in founding the Australian Democrats in 1977. After unsuccessfully contesting the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

and

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

federal elections, Vigor gained pre-selection to the No. 1 position on the South Australian Democrats' Senate ticket at the

1984 election The following elections occurred in the year 1984. Africa * 1984 Beninese parliamentary election * 1984 Botswana general election * 1984 Burundian presidential election * 1984 Cameroonian presidential election * 1984 Comorian presidential electi ...

and gained election as a senator for that state. As a senator, Vigor was notable for his lengthy questioning of government policy during Senate committees and Question Time. He also worked on issues like a scheme to provide risk capital to inventors, effective labelling and packaging of consumer products, the introduction of the Hare-Clark voting system to the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

, highlighting problems with the

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in ...

and banning smoking on aircraft. Vigor was the first politician to attempt to legislate a class actions regime in Australia. Vigor's time in the Senate was cut short when the Hawke

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 labour ...

government called a double dissolution election in 1987. He lost pre-selection for the winnable first position on the Democrats' Senate ticket to party leader

Janine Haines Janine Winton Haines, AM (née Carter; 8 May 1945 – 20 November 2004) was an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia from 1977 to 1978 and again from 1981 to 1990. She represented the Australian Democrats, and served as t ...

and, in response, joined fellow disaffected Democrat Senator

John Siddons John Royston Siddons (5 October 1927 – 22 September 2016) was an Australian politician. He was a businessman and the executive chairman of Siddons Industries Ltd. before entering politics. Siddons was born on 5 October 1927 in Melbourne, the ...

(UAP). Vigor stood unsuccessfully as the UAP's lead South Australian Senate candidate at the 1987 election and returned to computer consultancy and software development. Vigor died from a heart attack at his home in

Sandy Creek, South Australia Sandy Creek is a town in South Australia. The town is situated approximately 6 kilometres east of Gawler and is the last town passed through before reaching Barossa Valley at Lyndoch. At the , Sandy Creek had a population of 439. The Sandy C ...

, aged 58, survived by his wife, five sons, two daughters and seven grandchildren.''Adelaide Advertiser'', "Ex-senator, Democrats founder dies", 14 April 1998, p. 25.

References

* Musidlak, Bogey (1998). "Obituary—Man of conscience mixed science with his politics", ''The Australian'', p. 17, 20 April 1998. * Tilby Stock, Jenny (2017)
Vigor, David Bernard (1939–1998)
in Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, online version, {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigor, David 1939 births 1998 deaths Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia French emigrants to Australia University of Adelaide alumni Monash University alumni Members of the Australian Senate Unite Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Adelaide People educated at Adelaide High School