Des Corcoran

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South Australian Parliament
for Millicent
In office
3 March 1962 – 12 July 1975
Preceded byJim Corcoran
Succeeded byMurray Vandepeer
Personal details
Born
James Desmond Corcoran

(1928-11-08)8 November 1928
Millicent, South Australia
Died3 January 2004(2004-01-03) (aged 75)
Adelaide, South Australia
Political partyLabor (SA)
Spouse
Carmel Campbell
​
(m. 1957)​
Children8
Parent
  • Mentioned in despatches
    (twice)

James Desmond Corcoran

Australian Labor Party
.

Corcoran was a key figure in the modernisation of the state branch of the Labor Party, which had been in opposition since 1933. When the party gained power in 1965, Corcoran was allocated the portfolios of irrigation, lands and repatriation in the government of Frank Walsh. Upon Walsh's retirement in 1968, Corcoran contested the party leadership but was defeated by Dunstan. In the Dunstan cabinet, Corcoran retained responsibility for irrigation and lands, and replaced repatriation with immigration. In March 1968, he became the first formally appointed deputy premier of the state, and gained the tourism portfolio. Two months later, Labor lost government and Corcoran nearly lost his seat, but retained his role as Dunstan's deputy.

At the

Liberal Party, and Labor lost office. Having retained Hartley, Corcoran resigned as Labor leader and did not contest the 1982 election. Dunstan was angry with Corcoran for wasting a full year of the term of government they had won in 1977, and because he had not continued to pursue Dunstan's policies on industrial democracy and Aboriginal land rights
.

Made an

Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982 in recognition of his service to politics and government, Corcoran was also awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001. He died in 2004 following a long illness, and was granted a state funeral
. Described as a larger than life character who was respected on both sides of politics, Corcoran's long and successful partnership with Dunstan was a hallmark of his political life.

Early life and military service

James Desmond "Des" Corcoran was born on 8 November 1928 in Millicent, South Australia.[1] He was the youngest of nine children of Jim Corcoran and his wife Teresa Catherine née Sutton.[2] Jim had served as a corporal in the 27th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front during World War I, and had been wounded during the Battle of Amiens in August 1918.[3] Des attended Tantanoola Primary School,[4] but left school at 13 and worked in a bakery.[2] He joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 1941.[5] His mother died when he was 16, and around that time he and his older brother Robert embarked on a working holiday around Australia. While in Wollongong in New South Wales, they saw an advertisement for men to enlist in the Australian Army to fight in the Korean War, and after tossing a coin to decide what to do, they both went to enlist.[2]

In the meantime, following his unsuccessful attempt to be elected to the electoral district of Victoria in the South Australian House of Assembly in a by-election in 1932, Jim Corcoran was also unsuccessful in the state elections of 1933[6] and 1944,[7] before finally prevailing in a by-election in September 1945.[8] He was unsuccessful in his bid to be re-elected in the 1947,[9] and 1950 state elections.[10]

Robert served in Korea as a

minefield fences, and conducting reconnaissance of enemy positions to gather information.[12]

By early December 1952,

mentioned in despatches.[14] While Des was still serving in Korea, his father Jim was again elected to the district of Victoria in the March 1953 state election.[17] Des returned to Australia in March 1954, and after several weeks of leave, was posted to New Guinea.[18]

At the

Australian Army Education Service to receive his intermediate certificate, then completed his leaving certificate in six weeks, completing five subjects with a distinction in English.[16] He was subsequently commissioned as a captain.[5]

Politics

Des Corcoran left the Army in 1961 and in the

Liberal and Country League (LCL).[5][24] In his first speech in the house, on 24 July 1962, his father was present in the gallery, and he attributed his successful election to James Corcoran's "able and honest representation"[25] of the people of the seat of Millicent. His speech emphasised policy areas that would remain central to his political interests throughout his career. These included: ensuring that country South Australians had the same access to services as those who lived in Adelaide, especially in areas such as utilities and education; and the promotion of the agriculture, fishing and forestry industries in the southeast of the state. He was a strong proponent of the paper industry and water controls for the irrigation scheme in the southeast.[25] Labor had been in opposition in the state since 1933, and Corcoran, along with his colleagues Don Dunstan, Mick Young and Clyde Cameron, was a key player in the modernisation of the state Labor Party as a political force.[26] This saw the ALP develop policy and campaign hard on education, health and working conditions, and against racial discrimination and the malapportionment of electoral districts in the state, known as the Playmander.[27] When the ALP won government in South Australia for the first time since 1930 in the 6 March 1965 state election,[28] Corcoran became Minister of Irrigation, Minister of Lands, and Minister of Repatriation.[5] In the election, Corcoran increased his share of the TPP to 61.8 per cent.[29] Corcoran served on the parliamentary committee on land settlement from March to November 1965.[5] The new Premier, Frank Walsh, was a Catholic like Corcoran, when the Labor caucus was dominated by Protestants,[30] and the ALP federally was still reeling from the 1955 split of the party and the creation of the socially conservative and Catholic-dominated Democratic Labour Party (DLP).[31] Corcoran's father Jim had died in May 1965.[32]

Walsh was already 67 years old when he became premier, and the ALP rules applying at the time required him to retire from parliament at the next election. He was reluctant to do so, and made moves to have the rules modified to allow him to serve on. His party colleagues resisted this, and ultimately the ALP state council passed a congratulatory motion that included thanking him for "selflessly stepping down so that a new leader could establish himself before the next election".[30] In the face of this, Walsh reluctantly resigned effective from 1 June 1967.[30] Coinciding with Walsh's retirement, there was an ALP leadership ballot which included Corcoran, Dunstan, Gabe Bywaters and Cyril Hutchens. Walsh strongly supported Corcoran, perhaps partly because he wrongly believed that Dunstan had been involved in some way with the congratulatory motion that Cameron had moved to push Walsh out.[33] In the first round Corcoran received ten votes and Dunstan nine from the caucus of twenty-five, but in the second round Dunstan was the clear winner with fourteen votes and a majority, with Corcoran receiving eleven votes.[34][35] In Dunstan's 1967–1968 cabinet, Corcoran dropped the repatriation portfolio and took up immigration, retaining lands and irrigation.[5] Walsh remained in cabinet – with the social welfare portfolio – until March 1968.[30] On 26 March 1968, Corcoran became the first officially-appointed deputy premier – the position having been informal up to that point – and gained the tourism portfolio, which was combined with immigration.[5] Corcoran was a loyal deputy, and the working relationship between the two was "smooth and cooperative",[36] employing an internal consensus style within the party that had been carefully developed by Cameron and the Labor senator Jim Toohey since the late 1940s, and contrasted with the conflict-riven nature of the party in other states, largely due to the influence of the DLP.[36]

Labor lost government at the

Steele Hall, had to rely on the independent Tom Stott, who was elected as Speaker and therefore had a casting vote.[37] The Playmander had enabled the LCL to form a minority government despite only receiving 43 per cent of the state-wide votes.[38] During the term in opposition, Corcoran was Dunstan's deputy,[5] and the pair worked together well despite any rift that may have been caused by the struggle to succeed Walsh.[39]

In Labor's victory at the 30 May 1970 state election,[40] Corcoran retained the seat of Millicent with 54 per cent of the TPP.[40] He resumed his role as deputy premier, and held the works and marine portfolios.[5] Corcoran handled the interaction between the Dunstan ministry and the Labor caucus, using his strong personality to settle disputes.[41] Over the next nine years, Dunstan and Corcoran made an unconventional but strong team.[42] A devout Catholic and man of high personal morals, Corcoran privately opposed many of the social reforms Dunstan was implementing, such as liberalised abortion and homosexuality laws. In addition, Corcoran disliked Dunstan's glamorous image and fondness for the arts. A conservative dresser, Corcoran did not at all share Dunstan's enthusiasm for wearing casual clothes on public occasions.[26] Nevertheless, the two men felt a wary respect for one another and managed to maintain a working relationship. Behind the scenes, Dunstan sometimes found Corcoran's plain-speaking style useful to control others within the ALP.[43]

Corcoran held Millicent with 56.5 per cent of the TPP in the 10 March 1973 state election, defeating the LCL's Murray Vandepeer.[44] When Millicent was subjected to a redistribution following that election, Corcoran's majority was theoretically eliminated, and Corcoran transferred to the eastern Adelaide district of Coles, previously held by Labor by the retiring Len King, for the 12 July 1975 state election. Corcoran won the seat with 52.4 per cent of the TPP,[45] and Vandepeer received 59.9 per cent of the TPP in Millicent.[46] When Coles was in turn subjected to a redistribution that undermined his margin, Corcoran transferred to the newly created and nearby northeastern Adelaide district of Hartley, receiving 58.8 per cent of the TPP at the 17 September 1977 state election, with Coles falling to Jennifer Cashmore of the Liberal Party (the renamed LCL).[47] Corcoran gained the environment portfolio in the new government, while retaining his other portfolios.[5]

By early 1979, Dunstan's health had deteriorated to the point that he could not continue in office,[42] and he resigned in February.[48] Dunstan had wanted Hugh Hudson to replace him, but Hudson lacked the numbers in the caucus despite Dunstan's support,[49] and on 15 February, Corcoran was elected his successor, thus finally achieving his ambition of becoming premier. He also served as state treasurer along with adding the ethnic affairs portfolio to immigration.[5] Mike Rann, who later became premier, served as Corcoran's press secretary during his short premiership.[42][50] Despite its popularity in the state at the time, Corcoran sidelined Dunstan's push for industrial democracy, where workers would have a say in decision-making within companies.[51] Spurred by positive opinion polls in mid-1979, Corcoran called a snap election after less than a year in the hope that he would gain a mandate of his own.[26] The election campaign was plagued by problems; business groups and the state's main afternoon tabloid newspaper, The News, openly sided with the Liberal Party.[5]

The gravestone on Des Corcoran's grave at North Brighton Cemetery

At the 15 September 1979 state election,[52] the Liberals under David Tonkin achieved an eleven per cent swing towards them and won.[5] Corcoran held Hartley with 50.7 per cent of the TPP.[53] Corcoran resigned his commissions as premier and treasurer on 18 September, and resigned from the Labor leadership on 2 October.[5] He was succeeded by the much younger John Bannon, whose urbane style and academic background meant he was much closer in style to Dunstan than to Corcoran. At the 6 November 1982 state election, Bannon easily defeated Tonkin and led Labor back into government, but Corcoran did not contest his seat of Hartley, which was retained for Labor by Terry Groom.[54] Dunstan was angry with Corcoran, feeling that he had wasted a full year of the term they had won in 1977, and had not continued to pursue Aboriginal land rights and industrial democracy.[55]

Corcoran was appointed as an

Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1982 Australia Day Honours, "in recognition of service to politics and government".[56] Between 1983 and 1987 Corcoran served on the Council of the Australian War Memorial.[57][58] In 2001, Corcoran was awarded the Centenary Medal.[59]

Death and legacy

Corcoran died in Adelaide on 3 January 2004, aged 75, after a long illness.[5][42] Upon his death, Rann, by then premier himself, described the strong and historic political partnership between Dunstan and Corcoran as "very successful", despite the two being "chalk and cheese". Rann went on to say that Corcoran would be "sorely missed" as someone who was larger than life and respected across the political spectrum in South Australia.[50] He also noted that Corcoran would be remembered "for his gregarious personality and how he so often used humour to heal differences". Don Hopgood, who served as education minister alongside Corcoran, observed that he brought strength to the Dunstan administration. Then opposition leader Dean Brown, who had himself served as premier between 1993 and 1996, stated that Corcoran was "approachable and enjoyed a good yarn and joke", and recalled that "his word could always be trusted and all members of the Parliament held him in very high esteem".[42] Corcoran was farewelled with a state funeral held at St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide, on 8 January,[60] and was buried at North Brighton Cemetery.[61]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Korean War Nominal Roll 2023a.
  2. ^ a b c d The Canberra Times 1979.
  3. ^ National Archives 2023, pp. 4–5.
  4. ^ The Border Watch 1940.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Parliament of South Australia 2022.
  6. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 248.
  7. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 261.
  8. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 262.
  9. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 265.
  10. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 268.
  11. ^ Korean War Nominal Roll 2023b.
  12. ^ a b AWM 2023b.
  13. ^ Plowman 2003, p. 446.
  14. ^ a b AWM 2023a.
  15. ^ Australian Army: The Soldiers' Newspaper 1972.
  16. ^ a b c d The Canberra Times 1979.
  17. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 272.
  18. ^ The South Eastern Times 1954.
  19. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 276.
  20. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 279.
  21. ^ The Advertiser 1957.
  22. ^ Australian Army: The Soldiers' Newspaper 1960.
  23. ^ AWM 2023c.
  24. ^ Jaensch 2007, pp. 281 & 283.
  25. ^ a b James Desmond Corcoran 24 July 1962.
  26. ^ a b c Jory 2004, p. 14.
  27. ^ Moss 1985, p. 385.
  28. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 285.
  29. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 287.
  30. ^ a b c d Bannon 2002.
  31. ^ Kefford et al 2018, p. 192.
  32. ^ Parliament of South Australia 2023.
  33. ^ Woollacott 2019, pp. 185–186.
  34. ^ The Canberra Times 26 May 1967.
  35. ^ The Canberra Times 31 May 1967.
  36. ^ a b Woollacott 2019, p. 187.
  37. ^ Jaensch 2007, pp. 289–293.
  38. ^ Moss 1985, p. 386.
  39. ^ Parkin 1981, p. 5.
  40. ^ a b Jaensch 2007, p. 293.
  41. ^ Stokes & Cox 1981, p. 274.
  42. ^ a b c d e Doherty & Heggen 2004.
  43. ^ Kelton 2004.
  44. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 299.
  45. ^ Jaensch 2007, pp. 298 & 303.
  46. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 305.
  47. ^ Jaensch 2007, pp. 308–309.
  48. ^ Woollacott 2022.
  49. ^ Woollacott 2019, p. 316.
  50. ^ a b ABC News 4 January 2004.
  51. ^ Woollacott 2019, pp. 305–307.
  52. ^ Jaensch 2007, p. 312.
  53. ^ Jaensch 2007, pp. 312–314.
  54. ^ Jaensch 2007, pp. 317–321.
  55. ^ Woollacott 2019, p. 319.
  56. ^ Australian Honours 2023a.
  57. ^ The Canberra Times 1983.
  58. ^ The Canberra Times 1987.
  59. ^ Australian Honours 2023b.
  60. ^ ABC News 6 January 2004.
  61. ^ North Brighton Cemetery map.

References

Books

Newspapers and journals

Hansard and parliamentary papers

Websites

Others

Political offices
New title Deputy Premier of South Australia
1970–1979 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Works
1970–1979 		Succeeded by
John Wright
as Minister for Public Works
Preceded by Premier of South Australia
1979 		Succeeded by
Treasurer of South Australia
1979
Parliament of South Australia
Preceded by Member for Millicent
1962–1975 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Coles
1975–1977 		Succeeded by
New division Member for Hartley
1977–1982 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the
Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch)

1979 		Succeeded by
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