Hywel David Evans AM (20 December 1924 – 3 September 2019) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1968 to 1989, representing the seat of Warren. He was a deputy leader of the party on two occasions, and was a minister in the governments of

John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin (2 February 1902 – 20 October 1995) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 3 March 1971 to 8 April 1974. A member of the Labor Party, Tonkin was a minister in the Willcock, Wise a ...

and Brian Burke.

Early life

Evans was born in

Penygraig Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is wi ...

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, Wales, and came to Australia as a child. His family settled in Pemberton, a small town in the

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

, and he went on to attend Bunbury High School. Evans enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF) in January 1943, and saw service as a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

in New Guinea and the South-West Pacific. After the war's end, he studied teaching at

Claremont Teachers College Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia's first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education then a campus of Edith Cowan University before being acquired by ...

and the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, and returned to the South West to work.Hywel David Evans
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2016.

Politics and later life

A long-time member of the Labor Party, Evans resigned his teaching job to contest the 1968 state election, winning the seat of Warren. After Labor's victory at the 1971 election, he was appointed Minister for Lands,

Minister for Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

, and Minister for Immigration in the new Tonkin ministry. After a reshuffle in October 1971, he was also made Minister for Forests. With the exception of the immigration portfolio, which was taken over by Don Taylor in February 1973, he retained his titles until Labor's defeat at the 1974 election. He was Shadow Minister for Agriculture in the

Tonkin shadow ministry The Tonkin shadow ministry was a Shadow Cabinet led by the Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia), Opposition Leader and leader of the Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch), Labor Party, John Tonkin, in the Parliament of Western ...

. When

Colin Jamieson Colin John Jamieson (26 May 1923 – 27 March 1990) was an Australian politician. He was the Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia), leader of the opposition and state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in Western Australia from 1 ...

replaced John Tonkin as Labor leader in 1976, Evans was elected as his deputy. He was replaced as deputy leader by

Mal Bryce Malcolm John Bryce (10 April 19433 March 2018) was an Australian politician, who served as a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1971 to 1988, representing the seat of Ascot. He was deputy leader of the L ...

in 1977, but remained in the shadow ministry. Evans returned to the deputy leadership in 1980, under new leader Ron Davies, but served only until the following year, when Brian Burke replaced Davies as leader and Mal Bryce became deputy leader again. After Labor's victory at the 1983 state election, Evans was named Minister for Agriculture (for a second time) and Minister for Fisheries and Wildlife. He was the only member of the new ministry to have prior ministerial experience. Evans left the ministry after the 1986 election, and retired from parliament altogether at the 1989 election. He was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in 1993, "in recognition of service to the Western Australian Parliament and to agriculture".It's An Honour
retrieved 22 May 2016. Outside of politics, Evans served as a president of the

Lower South West Football League The Lower South West Football League is a country Australian rules football league incorporating teams from towns located within the South West (Western Australia), South West and Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern regions of We ...

, and was involved with various conservation groups. He died in September 2019 at the age of 94.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, David 1924 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Penygraig University of Western Australia alumni Welsh emigrants to Australia Royal Australian Air Force airmen

Early life

Politics and later life

See also

References