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Don Dunstan

Lawyer, Politician, Author & Restaurateur

Image courtesy of
Flinders University of South Australia

Donald Allan Dunstan was born in Suva, Fiji on 21 September 1926. After early schooling he transferred to South Australia and attended Murray Bridge High School, St Peter's College, and the University of Adelaide, graduating with a law degree in 1948. For some years he paracticed law in Fiji and later in Adelaide. He was appointed QC in 1965.

Dunstan became involved in labor politics, and in 1953 successfully stood for the House of Assembly seat of Norwood. In Frank Walsh's government Dunstan held the position of Attorney-General and Minister of Community Welfare and Aboriginal Affairs. When Mr Walsh retired as premier in 1967 Dunstan was elected leader of the Labor Party. In 1970 he was elected Premier, and thus began the so-called "Dunstan decade", which ended with Dunstan's resignation from politics, amidst the death of his wife Adele, and the controversy surrounding the sacking of Police Commissioner Harold Salisbury, in 1979.

During his premiership South Australia was socially transformed. Among Dunstan"s many reforms were those concerned with Aboriginal land rights, equal opportunities, consumer protection, and the restructuring of electoral law. He also encouraged a flourishing of the arts, with support for th