Donald Norman Cameron (3 November 1851 – 17 February 1931) was an Australian politician. He served 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 ...

(1901–1903, 1904–1906) and

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

(1912–1913, 1925–1928).

Early life

Cameron was born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copied ...

, the son of

Donald Cameron Donald Cameron may refer to: Scottish Clan Cameron * Donald Cameron of Lochiel (c. 1695 or 1700–1748), 19th Chief, and his descendants: ** Donald Cameron, 22nd Lochiel (1769–1832), 22nd Chief ** Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1835–1905), Scott ...

who served in the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1868 to 1886.

Federal politics

At the 1901 federal election, Cameron was elected for the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

as one of Tasmania's five members of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

, since Tasmania had not been divided into electoral divisions. At the 1903 election he contested the seat of Denison, but was defeated by the

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

candidate, Sir

Philip Fysh Sir Philip Oakley Fysh (1 March 1835 – 20 December 1919) was an English-born Australian politician. He arrived in Tasmania in 1859 and became a leading merchant in Hobart. He served two terms as premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892) ...

. He returned to the House when he won a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in the seat of

Wilmot Wilmot may refer to: Places Australia *Division of Wilmot, an abolished Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania * Wilmot, Tasmania, a locality in the North-West Region Canada *Wilmot, Nova Scotia, an unincorporated rural community and former t ...

in 1904. He is remembered today for his part in the choice of national capital. The house was evenly divided, he effectively having the casting vote. After two weeks' prevarication he settled on

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Prior to the 1906 election, supporters of the Anti-Socialists in Cameron's electorate decided to switch their support to a new candidate,

Llewellyn Atkinson Llewellyn Atkinson (18 December 1867 – 1 November 1945) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1906 to 1929 and a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1931 to 1934, representing ...

, as they believed Atkinson was more popular in the electorate and did not wish to split the vote. However, some newspapers such as ''

The Hobart Mercury ''The'' ''Mercury'' is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd (DBL), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called ''Mercury ...

'' still listed him as the endorsed Anti-Socialist candidate in Wilmot. He was defeated by Atkinson and out-polled by the Labor candidate, finishing with 12.1 percent of the vote.

State politics and later life

After losing his federal seat Cameron returned to Tasmanian politics, serving in the House of Assembly from 1912 to 1913 and again from 1925 to 1928. He died at Chudleigh of pneumonia following a fall. He was survived by his wife, a daughter and two of his three sons. One son,

Donald Keith Cameron Donald Keith Cameron (1 May 1887 – 6 June 1967) was an Australian politician. He was born in Chudleigh, Tasmania, the son of Norman Cameron, another Tasmanian politician. In 1934 he was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as a Nati ...

, served in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1934–37. His brother Cyril Cameron was a

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australi ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

contemporaneously with his service as MHR, 1901–1903 then from 1906–1913.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Norman 1851 births 1931 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Tasmania Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wilmot 20th-century Australian politicians