Don Chipp
Victoria | |
---|---|
In office 1 July 1978 – 18 August 1986 | |
Succeeded by | Janet Powell |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Hotham | |
In office 25 October 1969 – 10 November 1977 | |
Preceded by | Constituency created |
Succeeded by | Roger Johnston |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Higinbotham | |
In office 10 December 1960 – 25 October 1969 | |
Preceded by | Frank Timson |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Donald Leslie Chipp 21 August 1925 Victoria, Australia |
Died | 28 August 2006 Richmond, Victoria, Australia | (aged 81)
Political party | Democrat (after 1977) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (1955–1958; 1977) Liberal (1958–1977) |
Spouses | Monica Lalor
(m. 1951; div. 1979)Idun Welz
(m. 1979; wid. 2006) |
Children | with Lalor: 4 with Welz: 2 |
Education | Commonwealth of Australia |
Branch/service | Royal Australian Air Force |
Years of service | 1943–1945 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
This article is part of a series on |
Liberalism in Australia |
---|
Donald Leslie Chipp,
Early life
Don Chipp was born in Melbourne and educated at
After serving in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, Chipp worked as registrar of the Commonwealth Institute of Accountants from 1950 to 1955. In 1955, he was appointed chief executive officer of the Olympic Civic Committee which was involved in organising the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Later, he worked as manager of the Victorian Promotion Committee, and he also ran his own management consultancy. From 1958 to 1961, he was a member of the Kew City Council.
Early parliamentary career
Chipp entered federal politics in 1960 as the
After the 1969 election, Gorton appointed Chipp as Minister for Customs and Excise. In that portfolio, he gained national attention by largely abolishing the censorship of printed material, unbanning many novels, including Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, as well as allowing the sale of Playboy magazine. He also oversaw the introduction of the R certificate for films in 1970, which allowed previously banned films to be rerated and shown to adults. The actions made him widely popular but were disapproved of by more conservative Liberal Party colleagues who identified him as a "small-l liberal", along with Snedden and Andrew Peacock.
Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the
Resignation from Liberal Party
In his book The Third Man, Chipp considered the effects of a "whispering campaign" to discredit him within the Liberal Party. That came to a head on 8 March 1977 when he spoke at a heavily attended Citizens for Democracy meeting at the Sydney Town Hall with other controversial speakers including Frank Hardy, Patrick White, Donald Horne and Faith Bandler. He writes "Liberals thought it was intolerable that any member of the party should appear with 'those people'". Chipp concluded: "It was then, I believe, that I concluded I could not stay in such a party any longer. I resented the tag of 'rebel' which was being applied to me by my own colleagues."[1]: 177–178 The rebellious image was heightened by the fact that Chipp omitted to attend a Parliament House reception for Queen Elizabeth II. He had decided to honour his prior speaking engagement, which had been widely publicised. The meeting, attended by 5,000, "almost went out of control when I stated that Sir John Kerr had no alternative than to act as he did on 11 November 1975. Donald Horne pleaded for order, saying "This man deserves a hearing; he is putting his political career on the line by speaking here."[1]: 178
Chipp decided to resign from the Liberal Party on 24 March 1977 and concluded his speech that day with the following:
I have become disenchanted with party politics as they are practised in this country and with the pressure groups which have an undue influence on the major political parties. The parties seem to polarise on almost every issue, sometimes seemingly just for the sake of it, and I wonder if the ordinary voter is not becoming sick and tired of the vested interests which unduly influence political parties and yearns for the emergence of a third political force, representing middle-of-the-road policies which would owe allegiance to no outside pressure group. Perhaps it may be the right time to test that proposition.[1]: 178
Leadership of Democrats
Even before the resignation, he received an invitation to join the amalgamated Centre-Line Party, which predated the
At the
At the 1980 election, the Democrats gained three more senators, giving them a total of five. They held a potential balance of power, which they retained for most of the time until 1 July 2005, after a total lack of success at the 2004 election. Their theoretical ability to reject or amend government legislation was seldom applied, as it was dependent on rare support from other non-government senators. It was, however, a useful avenue for publicity and effective Senate committee dealings outside the chamber.[6]
Later life
Chipp resigned from the Senate on 18 August 1986,[6] being succeeded as leader by Janine Haines and replaced as a senator by Janet Powell.
From 1988 to 1990, Chipp conducted a regular
He ran unsuccessfully for election as the
Chipp died of
Personal life
Chipp was married twice.
On 27 October 1951 he married Monica Lalor. With her support, Chipp stood and won a seat on the Kew City Council which he held from 1955 to 1961, and was encouraged- at that time – to become an active member of the Liberal Party. They had four children.
Chipp and Lalor divorced in 1979, and Chipp married Idun Welz later that same year. They had two children.
His eldest son, Greg Chipp, established
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7270-0827-7
- ^ Reid, Alan, The Gorton Experiment, pp 36–37
- ^ Commonwealth Parliamentary Hansards: Commonwealth Parliamentary debates 16 and 17 May 1967
- New Liberal Movement, as described in The Third Man, p 179
- ^ Hewat, Tim; Wilson, David (1978). "Don Chipp". Widescope International Publishers, Melbourne. Page 81
- ^ a b c Megarrity, Lyndon. "CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
External links
- Australian Parliament: Parliamentary biography CHIPP, the Hon. Donald Leslie, AO
- Australian Parliament: Speeches of Senator the Hon. Don Chipp
- Interview with Andrew Denton on the ABC's Enough Rope
- Interview with Peter Thompson on the ABC's Talking Heads