Francis Anthony "Frank" Donovan (born 28 January 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a 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 1987 to 1993. A

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and ot ...

, Donovan worked as a social worker before entering politics. He was a member of the Labor Party until 1991, when he resigned to sit as an independent.

Early life

Donovan was born in

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...

, Hertfordshire, England, to Cecelia Mary (née Fletcher) and James Francis Donovan. In 1964, after leaving school, he moved to Australia and enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

. He served a

tour of duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

with the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, and on his return was posted to the Balmoral Naval Hospital in Sydney as a welfare officer. Donovan left the army in 1969, and moved to Western Australia the following year. After a few years as a self-employed cabinet-maker, he moved to Roebourne (a small town in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

), where he was employed as a welfare officer by the state government. In 1977, Donovan began studying at the

Western Australian Institute of Technology Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

(WAIT), graduating with a

Bachelor of Social Work A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

in 1980. He subsequently worked as a researcher for Graeme Campbell, a federal Labor MP, and then as a social worker. He was also involved in the formation of a statewide association for

s.Francis Anthony Donovan
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

Politics

Donovan first stood for parliament at the 1983 state election, but lost to Peter Coyne (the sitting

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 ...

member) in the seat of Murchison-Eyre. Four years later, he won the 1987 Morley-Swan by-election, which had been caused by the resignation of Arthur Tonkin (a former Labor minister). Donovan was re-elected at the 1989 state election, winning the renamed seat of Morley. He was subsequently made deputy chairman of committees in the Legislative Assembly, holding the position until October 1991, when he resigned from the Labor Party to sit as an independent. Donovan had been a prominent opponent of the federal Labor government's decision to send troops to the Gulf War, although the "last straw" for him before his resignation from the party was the state Labor government's decision to grant land to the fledgling

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

, a private Catholic university in Fremantle. He was the third Labor MP to leave the party in 1991, along with

Pam Buchanan Pamela Ann Buchanan (née Slocombe; 6 February 1937 – 31 March 1992) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia between 1983 and 1992. She represented the Labor Party for the majority of h ...

and Ian Alexander, and their combined resignations meant the Labor Party (led by

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

) was reduced to a minority government.The Lawrence Government: Other Perspectives
The Carmen Lawrence Collection, Curtin University Library. Retrieved 20 September 2016. Donovan did not re-contest his seat at the 1993 state election, and subsequently returned to social work. He moved to

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 ...

in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Frank 1947 births Living people Australian Army soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War English emigrants to Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Rickmansworth Australian social workers Curtin University alumni

Early life

Politics

See also

References