Alexander Donald Taylor AM (24 January 1928 – 26 July 2023) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 1968 to 1984, representing the

electoral district of Cockburn Cockburn is an Electoral districts of Western Australia, electoral district of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia. The district is based in Perth's south-western suburb ...

. He served as a minister in the government of John Tonkin, including as deputy premier from 1973 to 1974. Taylor later served as Administrator of Christmas Island (an Australian external territory) from 1986 to 1990.

Early life

Taylor was born in

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 ...

to Lily Irene (née Jennings) and Alexander Taylor. He was raised 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 ...

, attending

Perth Modern School Perth Modern School (colloquially known as Perth Mod) is a public co-educational academically selective high school, located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Perth Modern is Western Australia's only fully academica ...

, and was a state-level basketball player in his youth. Taylor studied teaching 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 ...

and

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 after graduating worked at

Applecross Senior High School Applecross Senior High School is a public co-educational high school, located in Ardross, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1958, Applecross Senior High School has traditionally been one of the leading public high schoo ...

(1959–1960) and Perth Modern School (1961–1962). He later worked as a rural education officer with the Junior Farmers' Council.

Politics

A member of the Labor Party from 1956, Taylor was elected to parliament at the 1968 state election, replacing the retiring Henry Curran in Cockburn. After the 1971 election, which saw the election of a Labor government, he was made Minister for Housing and Minister for Labour in the new ministry. Following a ministerial reshuffle in October 1971, Taylor's titles were Minister for Labour, Minister for Prices Control, and Minister for Tourism. He was additionally made Minister for Immigration in February 1973. In May 1973,

Herb Graham Herbert Ernst Graham (6 April 1911 – 17 March 1982) was an Australian politician. Biography Graham was born in Narrogin, Western Australia on 6 April 1911 to parents from South Australia. Graham attended school in Narrogin and Northam. His ...

stepped down as deputy leader of the Labor Party, with Taylor being elected as his replacement and consequently being appointed deputy premier. He served as deputy premier until Labor's defeat at the 1974 election, a term of less than a year (the shortest term of any deputy premier in Western Australia). After the election, Taylor was replaced as Labor's deputy leader by

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 ...

. He remained in the shadow ministry until 1980, serving under three

leaders of the opposition Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

(John Tonkin, Colin Jamieson, and Ron Davies).

Later life

Taylor retired from parliament in August 1984. He served on the Judiciary and Parliamentary Salaries Tribunal from 1984 to 1986, and then was briefly chairman of the Authority for the Intellectually Handicapped. From 1986 to 1990, Taylor served as Administrator of Christmas Island, an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean. 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 the 1991 Australia Day Honours, for "public service and service to the Western Australia parliament".TAYLOR, Alexander Donald
It's An Honour. Retrieved 26 January 2017. Taylor died on 26 July 2023 in

Myaree, Western Australia Myaree is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Melville. Myaree gets its name from an Aboriginal word meaning foliage. Myaree is a predominantly light industrial area. When it was developed, roads were named after s ...

. He was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Don 1928 births 2023 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Western Australian schoolteachers Deputy premiers of Western Australia Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Kalgoorlie University of Western Australia alumni Christmas Island administrators People educated at Perth Modern School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia