Donald Day (19 February 1924 – 18 May 2010) was an Australian politician and member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

representing the electorates of

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

(1971–1981) and

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

(1981–1984) for the Labor Party. Day held a range of Ministerial responsibilities in the government of

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

Early years and background

Day was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. His father, Alfred Day, was an engineer. Referring to his early years, Day was quoted as:

I grew up in the metropolitan area of Melbourne during the depression. My father deserted us when we were kids, so we had a fairly rough upbringing; my mother had to bring up three of us without the benefit of any deserted wives' pension. We scrabbled very hard and that sort of builds a fire in your guts. It leaves a mark on you really that never leaves you. The scars are there from charity handouts and all those rather soul-destroying experiences. That's why I'll always be Labor.

He was educated at

Swinburne Technical College Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access ...

and trained as a fitter and turner. In 1941 he joined the Australian Imperial Forces as a private and later transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force to become a

catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

pilot where he met and married Marie Davis. Following his war service Day and his wife settled in her home town of

Maclean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John). The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Gille Eathai ...

and established a car and farm equipment dealership. He joined the Labor party at age 28 and served in local government.

Political career

Day won Labor pre-selection and was subsequently elected as the member for

at the 1971 state election; the first time the seat had been held by Labor since the establishment of single member constituencies in 1927. He retained this seat until it was abolished in a redistribution prior to the 1981 state election. He subsequently contested and won the seat of

. With the election of the Wran government in 1976, Day, one of the few rural based elected members of the Labor Party, became the Minister for Decentralisation and Development and Minister for Primary Industries. He continued in rural industry portfolios in the Wran government until his retirement prior to the 1984 state election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Don 1924 births 2010 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales