Gabriel Thomas Dadour AM (19 April 1925 – 17 March 2011) was an Australian doctor and 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 1971 to 1986, representing the seat of Subiaco. He was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

until 1984, when he resigned to sit as an independent. He was remembered as an outspoken member of parliament unafraid of criticising his own party on issues he felt strongly about.

Early life

Dadour was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to Nabeeha (née Zazbeck) and Alexander Elias Dadour, his mother being of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n origin. He attended

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...

before going to study medicine at 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 ...

. Towards the end of World War II, he enlisted in the

Royal Australian Naval Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian co ...

, serving on HMAS ''Hobart'', HMAS ''LST 3008'', and HMAS ''Waree'' before being discharged in November 1946. Dadour moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1953, and eventually opened a doctor's surgery in the suburb of Subiaco (which he maintained throughout his political career). He was elected to the Subiaco City Council in April 1967, and would serve as a councillor until October 1977.Gabriel Thomas Dadour
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

Politics

At the 1971 state election, Dadour was invited to stand for Liberal

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

by the serving

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, Sir

David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Premi ...

, and subsequently won the seat of Subiaco. He was re-elected at the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, and 1983 elections. He was a vocal critic of his own governments decision to close the Fremantle to Perth railway in 1979 and presented a 95,000 signature protest petition to parliament. In 1984, he left the Liberal Party after a series of policy disagreements, and sat as an independent until his retirement at the 1986 state election. One of his most notable achievements in parliament was the introduction of a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

restricting

tobacco advertising Nicotine marketing is the marketing of nicotine-containing products or use. Traditionally, the tobacco industry markets cigarette smoking, but it is increasingly marketing other products, such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products ...

, which was the first of its kind in Australia. It passed the lower house, but was narrowly defeated in the upper house.

Later life

Dadour was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in 2001, and died in Perth in March 2011, aged 85. He had married twice, firstly to Lesley Joan Clarke in 1953, with whom he had four children. He was divorced in 1982 and remarried the same year to Betty Douglas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dadour, Tom 1925 births 2011 deaths Australian general practitioners Australian people of Syrian descent Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Sydney Boys High School Medical doctors from Sydney University of Sydney alumni Western Australian local councillors Politicians from Sydney