Douglas Nixon Everingham (25 June 1923 – 24 August 2017) was an Australian politician who served as

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1975. He represented the Labor Party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1967 to 1975 and 1977 to 1984. He is remembered for his pivotal role in the formation of the Whitlam government's Medicare program.

Early life

Born in

Wauchope, New South Wales Wauchope () is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the boundaries of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area. Wauchope is inland on the Hastings River and the Oxley Highway west of Port Macquar ...

, Everingham was educated at

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...

and graduated with a

Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

in 1946 and worked in public and private hospitals and as a family doctor. He spent time working in New South Wales psychiatric hospitals before relocating back to

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

where he had done his internship.Whitlam health minister Everingham dies
AAP, published on 9news.com.au 29 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.

Politics

Everingham's first attempt at entering politics came in 1963 when he unsuccessfully ran as 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 the f ...

candidate in the seat of Dawson but was defeated by the Country Party's

George Shaw George Shaw may refer to: * George Shaw (biologist) (1751–1813), English botanist and zoologist * George B. Shaw (1854–1894), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin * George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), Irish playwright * George C. Shaw (1866–196 ...

. Following the death of Member for Capricornia George Gray, Everingham nominated for pre-selection for the resulting 1967 by-election. Everingham won pre-selection, beating out local Rockhampton Labor identity Evan Schwarten (father of

Robert Schwarten Robert Evan Schwarten (born 6 October 1954) is an Australian politician. Early life Schwarten was born in Rockhampton, and is married with two sons. Before his entry into politics, he was a teacher and a ministerial advisor to the Deputy Pr ...

) at a time when Labor leader

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

was seeking more tertiary-educated Labor MPs amongst the party's traditional working class members.'Father of Medicare': Tributes for respected CQ politician
''

The Morning Bulletin ''The Morning Bulletin'' is an online newspaper servicing the city of Rockhampton and the surrounding areas of Central Queensland, Australia. From 1861 to 2020, ''The Morning Bulletin'' was published as a print edition, before then becoming an ...

'', 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017. Everingham went on to win the 1967 by-election beating his nearest rival, the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate Frank Rudd, and was subsequently elected as Member for Capricornia serving on the opposition. After Labor was returned to power at the 1972 federal election,

appointed Everingham as

. Everingham was known for his fierce campaigning against cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and the sport of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. Local Rockhampton Labor identity, Barry Large (former Member for Capricornia Kirsten Livermore's long-serving political advisor), recalled that Everingham placed anti-smoking stickers on

cigarette vending machine A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

s throughout Parliament House in Canberra due to his anti-tobacco stance. Everingham was a proponent of the proposed

SR1 The Sr1 is a class of electric locomotives built for VR of Finland. These 25 kV locomotives were built in the Soviet Union at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Factory between 1973 and 1985. Two additional locomotives of this class were b ...

set of spelling reforms, which resulted in him referring to his department the "Department of Helth" and dubbed himself as "Minister for Helth". This prompted Prime Minister Whitlam to send correspondence to Everingham beginning with "Dear Dug" and signed "Yurs Gof".'Dug' decides to give it away...
''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', 25 August 1984. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 1 September 2017. Everingham was one of many Queensland Labor MPs to lose their seats at the 1975 election held after the dismissal of the Whitlam government, defeated by the

National Country Party The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a fe ...

's Colin Carige. However, Everingham was re-elected when he was victorious against Carige at the 1977 federal election. He remained the Member for Capricornia until his retirement at the 1984 election.

Later life

Everingham was the coordinator of the World Election Commission in the

World Government of World Citizens The World Service Authority (WSA), founded in 1953 by Garry Davis, is a non-profit organization that claims to educate about and promote "world citizenship", "world law", and world government. It is best known for selling unofficial fantasy do ...

. He was appointed by the World Coordinator

Garry Davis Sol Gareth "Garry" Davis (27 July 1921 – 24 July 2013) was an international peace activist best known for renouncing his American citizenship and interrupting the United Nations in 1948 to advocate for world government as a way to end nation ...

. At the time of his death in late August 2017, Everingham was one of four remaining original Whitlam government ministers. His death prompted a number of tributes including from long-serving state Labor MP Robert Schwarten who described Everingham as the "father of Medicare" due to his campaign for Australia to have a universal health care system. Schwarten described Everingham as being "instrumental" in establishing Medicare which was originally known as Medibank.

Personal life

Everingham was married twice, his two wives having pre-deceased him. Everingham had two daughters, Jo-Anne and Sue; and two sons, Stephen and Rick. Everingham's son Stephen was killed at the age of 22 in a car accident in June 1973. Stephen's 19-year-old passenger was also killed in the accident. The car collided head-on with a truck on the

Warrego Highway The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint ...

near Laidley west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, while Stephen and his passenger were returning to the

Queensland Agricultural College University of Queensland Gatton Campus is a heritage-listed university campus of the University of Queensland at Warrego Highway, Lawes, Gatton, Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1897 to 1960s. It is also known a ...

at Lawes where they were both students.Minister's son killed in collision
''

'', 25 June 1973. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 1 September 2017. At the time of his death, Doug Everingham had seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild, two step-grandchildren, and three step-grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everingham, Douglas Nixon 1923 births 2017 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Capricornia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Direct democracy activists 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Ministers for Health People educated at Fort Street High School