Douglas Niven Cameron (born 27 January 1951) is a retired Australian politician and trade unionist. He served as a

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 ...

for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

from 2008 to 2019, representing 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 ...

(ALP).

Early life

Cameron was born in

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

, Scotland, just outside

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. His mother's parents were born in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. He left school at 15 to take up an apprenticeship as a fitter at a local chain-making factory. Shortly after completing his apprenticeship the factory closed, and Cameron emigrated to Australia in 1973, at the age of 22. He initially worked at the

Garden Island Dockyard Garden Island is an inner-city locality of Sydney, Australia, and the location of a major Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base. It is located to the north-east of the Sydney central business district and juts out into Port Jackson, immediately to th ...

in Sydney, before moving to the

Liddell Power Station Liddell Power Station is a coal-fired thermal power station with four GEC steam driven turbine alternators for a combined electrical capacity of . However, as at April 2018, its operating capacity has been assessed at . Commissioned betwee ...

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney basin, bordering the New Englan ...

in 1975, where he worked as a maintenance fitter.

Union movement

After seven years working at the power station Cameron was elected as the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

regional organiser for the Amalgamated Metal Workers and Shipwrights Union (AMWSU). In 1986 he became the Assistant State Secretary of the union (by then known as the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union) in NSW, and later the Assistant National Secretary. Cameron served as National Secretary of the

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing se ...

from 1996 to 2008.

Politics

Cameron was first elected to the Senate at the 2007 federal election. He won Labor preselection by mounting a successful challenge to an incumbent senator, George Campbell, with the support of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

faction. In the Senate, he was known for his heavy Scottish accent. During the period of leadership tensions between

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

and

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

, Cameron was a vocal Rudd supporter. In the second Rudd ministry, which held office from June to September 2013, he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Homelessness. In October 2013, Cameron was appointed Shadow Minister for Human Services in the

Shadow Ministry of Bill Shorten The Shadow Ministry of Bill Shorten was the opposition Australian Labor Party shadow ministry from October 2013 to May 2019, opposing the Abbott Government, Turnbull Government and Morrison Government. The Opposition Front Bench is a group of ...

. He was instead made Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness and Shadow Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships in July 2016. Cameron announced on 24 July 2016 that he would retire at the end of his current term, and not contest the 2019 election.

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Doug Cameron on TheyVoteForYou.org.au

Parliamentary biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Doug 1951 births Living people People from Bellshill People who lost British citizenship Naturalised citizens of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Australian democratic socialists Australian trade unionists Australian people of Lithuanian descent Scottish emigrants to Australia Scottish people of Lithuanian descent Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Politicians from North Lanarkshire