Donald Newton Cameron (13 January 1914 – 5 June 1998), Australian politician, was born in

Murray Bridge, South Australia Murray Bridge (formerly Mobilong and Edwards Crossing) is a city in the Australian state of South Australia, located east-southeast of the state's capital city, Adelaide, and north of the town of Meningie. The city had an urban population of a ...

, and was educated at

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

. Like his brother

Clyde Cameron Clyde Robert Cameron, (11 February 191314 March 2008), was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1980, representing the Division of Hindmarsh. He wa ...

, he became a shearer and an official of the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exer ...

, and was also active in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

. From 1965 to 1969 he was

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n state secretary of the AWU and a member of the Labor State Executive. He was elected to the Australian Senate in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and served until his retirement in 1978.

Early life

Cameron was born on 13 January 1914 in

. He was the second of four sons born to Adelaide (née Hilder) and Robert Cameron. His father worked as a shearer and dairyman, while his mother was a squatter's daughter. Cameron grew up in

McLaren Vale McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area and centred on the town of McLaren Vale about south of the Adelaide city centre. It is internationally renowned for the win ...

and Loos, briefly attending

Gawler High School Gawler and District College is a public early learning centre and primary and secondary school located in the suburb of Evanston on the southern side of Gawler, north of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The colle ...

before leaving school to work as a shearer. He was close with his brother

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

and the two lived together in New Zealand from 1938 to 1939. They later both became officials with the

(AWU), with Clyde becoming state secretary in 1941.

Personal life

Cameron married Colleen Venables in 1945, with whom he had two sons, including

Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...

who served in state parliament. He died at his home in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

on 5 June 1998, aged 84.

References

1914 births 1998 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Australian trade unionists People from Murray Bridge, South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-senator-stub