Desmond Keith Dans (24 November 1924 – 2 January 2014) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who was a Labor Party member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

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 1971 to 1989, representing South Metropolitan Province. He served as a minister in the government of Brian Burke. Dans was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to Mary (née Frances) and Keith Dans. He moved to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

as a child, where he attended a convent school before going on to the Kalgoorlie School of Mines. Dans enlisted in the

Royal Australian Naval Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Austra ...

in 1942, and served as a stoker aboard HMAS ''Hobart''. After the war's end, he joined the merchant marine, and became involved with the Seamen's Union. He served as state secretary of the union from 1959 to 1971. Dans was elected to parliament at the 1971 state election. He was made leader of the Labor Party in the Legislative Council in 1976, and elevated to the shadow cabinet in 1978. After Labor's victory at the 1983 state election, Dans was made Minister for Industrial Relations in the new ministry formed by Brian Burke. Following a reshuffle in December 1984, he was instead made Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for Tourism. Another reshuffle occurred after the 1986 election, and Dans became Minister for Works and Services, with responsibility for the

1987 America's Cup The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup. The American challenger '' Stars & Stripes 87'', sailed by Dennis Conner, beat the Australian defender '' Kookaburra III'', sailed by Iain Murray, in a four-race swe ...

. He resigned from the ministry just over a month after the event's completion, and left parliament at the 1989 election.Desmond Keith Dans
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 May 2016.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dans, Des 1924 births 2014 deaths Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Trade unionists from Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Royal Australian Navy sailors People from Kalgoorlie Military personnel from Western Australia