Doug Everingham
Minister for Health | |
---|---|
In office 19 December 1972 – 11 November 1975 | |
Prime Minister | Gough Whitlam |
Preceded by | Lance Barnard (acting) |
Succeeded by | Don Chipp |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Capricornia | |
In office 30 September 1967 – 13 December 1975 | |
Preceded by | George Gray |
Succeeded by | Colin Carige |
In office 10 December 1977 – 26 October 1984 | |
Preceded by | Colin Carige |
Succeeded by | Keith Wright |
Personal details | |
Born | Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia | 25 June 1923
Died | 24 August 2017 | (aged 94)
Political party | Labor |
Alma mater | University of Sydney |
Occupation | Doctor |
Douglas Nixon Everingham (25 June 1923 – 24 August 2017)
Early life
Born in
Politics
Everingham's first attempt at entering politics came in 1963 when he unsuccessfully ran as the
Following the death of Member for Capricornia George Gray, Everingham nominated for pre-selection for the resulting 1967 by-election. Everingham won pre-selection, beating out local Rockhampton Labor identity Evan Schwarten (father of Robert Schwarten) at a time when Labor leader Gough Whitlam was seeking more tertiary-educated Labor MPs amongst the party's traditional working class members.[5]
Everingham went on to win the 1967 by-election beating his nearest rival, the
Everingham was known for his fierce campaigning against cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and the sport of
Everingham was a proponent of the proposed SR1 set of spelling reforms, which resulted in him referring to his department the "Department of Helth"[6][7] and dubbed himself as "Minister for Helth".[8] This prompted Prime Minister Whitlam to send correspondence to Everingham beginning with "Dear Dug" and signed "Yurs Gof".[4][7][9]
Everingham was one of many Queensland Labor MPs to lose their seats at the
He remained the Member for Capricornia until his retirement at the 1984 election.[9]
Later life
Everingham was the coordinator of the World Election Commission in the
At the time of his death in late August 2017, Everingham was one of four remaining original Whitlam government ministers.[4]
His death prompted a number of tributes including from long-serving state Labor MP Robert Schwarten who described Everingham as the "father of Medicare" due to his campaign for Australia to have a universal health care system. Schwarten described Everingham as being "instrumental" in establishing Medicare which was originally known as Medibank.[5]
Personal life
Everingham was married twice, his two wives having pre-deceased him. Everingham had two daughters, Jo-Anne and Sue; and two sons, Stephen and Rick.[5]
Everingham's son Stephen was killed at the age of 22 in a car accident in June 1973. Stephen's 19-year-old passenger was also killed in the accident. The car collided head-on with a truck on the
At the time of his death, Doug Everingham had seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild, two step-grandchildren, and three step-grandchildren.[5]
References
- ^ Dibben, Kay Former Whitlam Government Health Minister Doug Everingham Dead at 94, The Courier-Mail, 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017
- ^ Senate Hansard, 4 September 2017
- ^ "Doug N. Everingham's WDDM home page". Worldwide Direct Democracy Movement. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
- ^ 9news.com.au29 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ a b c d e 'Father of Medicare': Tributes for respected CQ politician, The Morning Bulletin, 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ Sampson, Geoffrey (1990). Writing Systems. Stanford University Press. p. 197.
- ^ a b Landry, Michelle (5 September 2017). "Everingham, Hon. Douglas Nixon 'Doug'" (PDF). Australian House of Representatives Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ "The Case for SR1 and Nothing Else". Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ a b 'Dug' decides to give it away..., The Canberra Times, 25 August 1984. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 1 September 2017.
- ^ "commissions - World Government of World Citizens".
- ^ Minister's son killed in collision, The Canberra Times, 25 June 1973. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 1 September 2017.