Douglas McClelland (born 5 August 1926) is an Australian former politician who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

from 1962 to 1987, representing 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 Minister for the Media (1972–1975) and

Special Minister of State Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

(1975) in the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

, and ended his political career as

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

(1983–1987). He resigned from the Senate to become High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (1987–1991). McClelland is the earliest elected Senator and federal Labor parliamentarian still alive, and along with

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

is the last surviving minister who served under

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

Early life

Born on 5 August 1926 in the western

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of Wentworthville, Doug McClelland was the son of Gertrude Amy (née Cooksley) and

Alfred McClelland Alfred McClelland (18 April 1886 – 29 January 1969) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1920 until 1927, representing Northern Tablelands, and from 1930 to 1932, representi ...

. His father was a farmer, union organiser, and ALP politician who served two terms in the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

(1920–1927 and 1930–1932). He attended Wentworthville Public School before going on to

Parramatta High School Parramatta High School (abbreviated as PHS and colloquially known as Parra High) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex education, co-educational dual modality partially Selective school (New South Wales), ac ...

and the Metropolitan Business College in

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

. After leaving school he found work as a clerk in the state Agriculture Department. In 1944, five days after his 18th birthday, McClelland enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He was stationed for periods in New South Wales, Queensland, and the Northern Territory before being discharged in January 1947 with the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

. From 1949 he worked as a

court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine or a stenomask, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certif ...

, employed by the state and federal governments. During this time he was an active member of the

Australian Journalists Association The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992. In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...

Politics

McClelland joined the ALP in 1947 and was elected to the state executive in 1956. He served as the campaign secretary for his father's close friend

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General of Australia, Attorney-General and Minister for For ...

, who was the member for Barton and served as federal leader of the ALP from 1951 to 1960. Evatt transferred to a different electorate in 1958, and McClelland lost the Barton

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 ...

ballot to

Len Reynolds Leonard "Len" Reynolds is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Peter Martin. Development In May 2007, Martin's character Len was killed off because Martin accepted a role in a stage production of ...

by just two votes. He was elected to the Senate at the 1961 federal election, aged 35, to a term starting on 1 July 1962. McClelland was Minister for the Media from 19 December 1972 to 6 June 1975,

Manager of Government Business in the Senate In the Parliament of Australia, the Manager of Government Business in the Senate is a government member, usually a Minister (government), minister, whose responsibilities include negotiating with the Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate ...

from 9 July 1974, and then

. He also served as

from 21 April 1983 until his resignation on 23 January 1987. (He was no relation to fellow ALP cabinet minister

Jim McClelland James Robert McClelland (3 June 1915 – 16 January 1999) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1971 to 1978. He briefly held minist ...

.) From 1981 until his resignation he was the Father of the Senate. In August 1981, McClelland was elected Chairman of Committees in the Senate, adding the title Deputy President in October. He defeated

National Country Party The National Party of Australia, commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats, is a centre-right and agrarian political party in Australia. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and rural voters generally, it began as the Austra ...

senator Douglas Scott by one vote with the aid of the Democrats, marking the start of the convention that the position is held by the opposition. When the ALP won the 1983 federal election, McClelland was elected

in place of Harold Young. In 1985 and 1986, he was represented by lawyers at the trials of

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam government, and then sat on the ...

, a judge of the High Court and former ALP senator, where concerns had arisen over whether parliamentarian witnesses could be examined on their conduct in parliament. McClelland subsequently introduced what became the ''Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987'', which defined and codified certain aspects of

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 ...

. It was "the first bill introduced by a presiding officer in the history of the Australian Parliament". McClelland retired from the Senate in January 1987, the year before the opening of the new Parliament House. He had served as chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on the New Parliament House from 1983.

Later life

McClelland served as

Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom The high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the High Commission of the Commonwealth of Australia to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northe ...

from 1987 to 1991.

Personal life

McClelland married Lorna McNeill and they have one son— Robert McClelland, the former member for Barton—and two daughters. He was made a Companion 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 ...

in June 1987. McClelland was awarded the

Douglas Wilkie Medal The Douglas Wilkie Medal was an award presented to those who did the least for Australian rules football, in the best and fairest manner. An accolade presented by the Anti-Football League, it was named after Douglas Wilkie, a '' Sun News-Pictor ...

for services to non-football in 1973 by the Anti-Football League. The accolade was presented after McClelland introduced a points system for television programming.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, Doug 1926 births Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Presidents of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Cabinet of Australia 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Companions of the Order of Australia Douglas Wilkie Medal winners Living people High commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom Permanent representatives of Australia to the International Maritime Organization 20th-century Australian politicians Court reporters Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers