Keith Dodgshun (31 July 1893 – 12 May 1971) was a politician in Victoria, Australia. He was a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for just under 17 years, representing the electorates of

Ouyen Ouyen is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the Rural City of Mildura at the junction of the Calder Highway and Mallee Highway, south of Mildura, and northwest of Melbourne. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,045. Hi ...

and

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

for the Country Party from 1938 to 1955.

Early life

Dodgshun was born in the inner Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn to warehouse manager Frederick William Dodgshun and his English wife Rosa May Russell. He was educated at

Camberwell Grammar School Camberwell Grammar School is an independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Canterbury, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Camberwell Church of England Grammar School was founde ...

and the Burnley Agricultural College. He managed his family's property at Mount Egerton for several years before enlisting in the army.Dodgshun, Keith
''Re-member'' (Parliament of Victoria), 1985.

Military service

Dodgshun enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 7 November 1917,Dodds to Dodman
''World War I Nominal Roll'', Australian War Memorial. He was assigned to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade and stationed in France and Belgium during World War I. He was discharged from the army on 31 March 1919. On his return to Australia, Dodgshun settled in Hopetoun where he worked in the

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlement ...

scheme.

Political career

In 1922, Dodgshun joined the Country Party and became president of the party's Hopetoun branch. From 1933 to 1938, he was a local councillor in the Shire of Karkarooc, until he nominated for election to the lower house of the Victorian state parliament. Dodgshun was elected unopposed to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the only candidate to nominate for the vacancy in Ouyen caused by the departure of

Albert Bussau Sir Albert Louis (Lou) Bussau (9 July 18845 May 1947) was a farmer, a Victorian politician, and the Victorian Agent General in London. Early years Bussau was born in Natimuk to carpenter and farmer Johann Joachim Heinrich Adolph Bussau, and Ma ...

who had resigned to become Victoria's

Agent-General An Agent-General ( or , masculine and feminine respectively) is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province or an States and territories of Australia, Australian state and, h ...

in London, so the by-election scheduled for 5 May 1938 was not held. Dodgshun was first made a minister when he was made Chief Secretary in

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lea ...

's first ministry, until the

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

between the Liberal and Country parties was dissolved after a dispute between Hollway and Country leader John McDonald.B. J. Costar
'Dodgshun, Keith (1893–1971)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 13 March 2013. On 27 June 1950, with the support of the Labor Party, McDonald overthrew Hollway's government and was appointed

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

. Dodgshun was made Deputy Premier, Chief Secretary, Minister-in-Charge of Electrical Undertakings and Minister-in-Charge of Immigration. Hollway briefly regained power from 28 to 31 October 1952 as an independent Premier, but his commission was withdrawn by the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

and Dodgshun regained his ministries in McDonald's cabinet, however McDonald was defeated by

John Cain John Cain may refer to: * John Cain (34th Premier of Victoria) (1882–1957), Australian politician * John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria) (1931–2019), Australian politician, son of the above ** John Cain Arena, sports arena in Melbourne, Austral ...

's Labor Party less than two months later at the

1952 Victorian state election The 1952 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 6 December 1952 to elect 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. Results Legislative Assembly See also * Candidates of the 1952 Vi ...

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodgshun, Keith Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Chief secretaries of Victoria Deputy premiers of Victoria Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of World War I National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria 1893 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians People from Hawthorn, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne Ministers of immigration (Victoria)