Donald Alastair Cameron

The Honourable Donald Alastair Cameron OBE
Hon Dr Donald Cameron
Member of the Australian Parliament for Oxley
In office 10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Bill Hayden
Personal details
Born	17 March 1900(1900-03-17) Ipswich, Queensland
Died	5 January 1974(1974-01-05) (aged 73) Chermside, Queensland
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Rhonda Florence McLean

Donald Alastair Cameron OBE (17 March 1900 – 5 January 1974) was an Australian politician and Minister for Health.

Cameron was born in Ipswich, Queensland, and was educated at Ipswich Grammar School and Sydney University, where he graduated in arts and medicine. From 1927 to 1933 he was a medical officer at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Coast Hospital in Sydney. In 1933, he married Rhoda Florence McLean and they then settled at Ipswich, where he practised until World War II, in which he served as a Colonel in the Australian Army Medical Corps in the Middle East and New Guinea. He was mentioned in dispatches and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946.^[1]

After the war Cameron joined the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia, and at the 1949 election he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the new seat of Oxley, based on Ipswich. He was Minister for Health in the Menzies government from 1956 to 1961. He was also appointed Minister in charge of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in 1960 following Richard Casey's retirement. At the 1961 election he was unexpectedly defeated by the young Australian Labor Party candidate, Bill Hayden.^[1]

After his defeat, Cameron worked as Commonwealth medical officer in Sydney and was High Commissioner to New Zealand from 1962 to 1965. He was then a general practitioner in the Brisbane suburb of Nundah. He died in the Brisbane suburb of Chermside, survived by his wife, daughter and son.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Harrison, Jennifer (1993). "Cameron, Donald Alastair (1900–74)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130388b.htm. Retrieved 10 January 2008. 

Political offices
Preceded by Earle Page	Minister for Health 1956–61	Succeeded by Harrie Wade
Preceded by Richard Casey	Minister in charge of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 1960–61	Succeeded by Robert Menzies
Parliament of Australia
New division	Member for Oxley 1949–1961	Succeeded by Bill Hayden

Persondata
Name	Cameron, Donald Alastair
Alternative names
Short description	Australian politician
Date of birth	17 March 1900
Place of birth	Ipswich, Queensland
Date of death	5 January 1974
Place of death	Chermside, Queensland