Donald Alfred Mountjoy (19 October 1906 – 8 January 1988) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1943 to 1946, representing the Western Australian seat of

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP). He was a railway worker before entering politics and later served on the

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

Early life

Mountjoy was born on 19 October 1906 in

Middle Swan, Western Australia Middle Swan is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, and forms part of the City of Swan local government area. The suburb is bordered to the west by the Swan River. The suburb is most notable for its various wineries, including Nikola Estate tha ...

. He was the son of Eliza Jane Passmore (née Hooper) and David Henry Mountjoy. He attended state schools at Middle Swan and Midland, leaving school at the age of 14. Mountjoy worked for periods as a vineyard hand and harvester after leaving school. He later joined

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respon ...

, and in 1937 was working as a

shunter A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive ( Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distan ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in which capacity he testified before an arbitration tribunal. He later worked as a guard based at West Midland and was active in the Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees, serving on the state executive.

Politics

In January 1943, Mountjoy won ALP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

for the

Division of Swan The Division of Swan is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division located in Western Australia. Swan is a Swing seat, marginal electorate that has swung between both major List of political parties ...

, at which time he was secretary of the party's Midland district council. He won Swan for the ALP at the 1943 federal election, defeating the incumbent Country Party MP Thomas Marwick. In parliament, Mountjoy supported the

Curtin government The Curtin government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Curtin. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1941 to 1945. Background John Curtin was firs ...

's plans for post-war reconstruction, particularly the nationalisation of the banking sector. In 1945 he publicly criticised the anti-communist Sane Democracy League and called for a government investigation of its activities. In response, deputy opposition leader

Eric Harrison Sir Eric John Harrison, (7 September 1892 – 26 September 1974) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the inaugural deputy leader of the Liberal Party (1945–1956), and a government minister under four prime ministers. He was lat ...

accused Mountjoy of misusing

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

and implied he was a covert communist, citing the fact that his brother Wilfred Mountjoy had stood as a Communist Party candidate on several occasions. Mountjoy was defeated after a single term at the 1946 election, narrowly losing Swan to the Country Party candidate

Len Hamilton Leonard William Hamilton (7 July 1899 – 31 May 1987) was an Australian politician. Born in Jarrahdale, Western Australia, he was educated at Perth Boys School before becoming a wheat and sugar farmer. He served in the military from 1917 to 19 ...

following the distribution of independent candidate

Bill Grayden William Leonard Grayden (born Wilbur Ives; 5 August 1920) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of parliament across six decades, serving in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (1947–1949, 1956–1993) and the Australian ...

's preferences.

Later life

In November 1946, months after his parliamentary defeat, Mountjoy was appointed by the

Chifley government The Chifley government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1945 to 1949. Background A week after Labor ...

to a three-year term on the executive of the

(CSIR). His appointment was criticised by the opposition on the grounds that he was not academically qualified, was closely affiliated with the Communist Party, and that the position had not been offered to a returned soldier.

John Dedman John Johnstone Dedman (2 June 1896 – 22 November 1973) was a Minister in the Australian Labor Party governments led by John Curtin and Ben Chifley. He was responsible for organising production during World War II, establishing the Australian N ...

, the minister responsible for the CSIR, said in response that Mountjoy was not a communist, had taken an active interest in the CSIR's activities during his parliamentary term, particularly on agricultural matters, and that there was no requirement for all members of the body to hold university degrees. In 1948, Mountjoy announced that he had enrolled at 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 ...

to study economics as a mature-aged student. The following year he was an unsuccessful candidate for ALP preselection in Swan, losing to Harry Webb. He also unsuccessfully sought the party's state secretaryship. Mountjoy later returned to working on the railways and in 1954 was a candidate for general secretary of the State Railway Employees' Union. He died on 8 January 1988, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountjoy, Don Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Swan Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1906 births 1988 deaths Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Australian people in rail transport Australian trade unionists CSIRO people Australian MPs 1943–1946