Douglas Thompson Walpole (21 August 1942 – 15 March 2020) is a former Australian politician. He was born in Leeds, England, to Thompson Walpole, a tailor's cutter, and Nellie, ''née'' Allaway. The family migrated to Australia in 1955 and Doug attended Sunshine Technical School from 1956 to 1959, subsequently qualifying as an electrical mechanic at Footscray Technical College in 1962. He worked as a maintenance electrician from 1959 to 1973. In 1969 he joined the Labor Party. He was an organiser with the Electrical Trades Union from 1973 to 1991, and from 1976 to 1979 was president of the

Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh ( Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is a town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong. As of the ...

branch of the Labor Party, as well as an executive member of the

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Federal Electorate Committee. He also held party positions as a member of the Disputes Tribunal (1985–91), the Industrial Affairs Policy Committee (1986–92), the Foreign Affairs Policy Committee (1986–92) and the State Conference (1972–93), and worked as industrial officer of the Vehicle Builders Union from 1991 to 1992. In 1992 Walpole was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

as a Labor member for

Melbourne Province Melbourne Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council (Australia). Melbourne Province was created in 1882 when Central Province was abolished in the redistribution of Provinces. Its area included central Melbourne, Carlt ...

. He served as a backbencher until 1999, when he lost preselection and instead contested the safe

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

province of East Yarra, at which he was defeated. Walpole had three children with his first wife (Nola). He had three grand daughters & a great-grandson. In 2005 he married his partner of six years, Jo Fox. From 2000 to 2014 they lived in Hobart.

References

1942 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub