Valentine Joseph Doube (3 January 1915 – 18 January 1988) was an Australian politician. Born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

to hat maker Francis William Robert Doube and Honora Fitzgerald, Doube was educated at St James' School in Gardenvale before studying at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

, receiving a Diploma of Physical Education in 1940. He taught physical education in primary schools from 1933 until 1941, when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. On 17 May 1941 he married Freda May Scott, with whom he had three sons. In 1943 he transferred to the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1945, the year he joined the Labor Party, Doube began work at the Department of Immigration. In 1946, he unsuccessfully contested the federal seat of Henty in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. In 1950 he was elected to 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 ...

as the member for Oakleigh. He was appointed

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

in March 1955 but lost the position following Labor's crushing defeat at that year's elections. Doube held his seat until 1961, when he was defeated, but returned to the Assembly in 1970 as the member for Albert Park. He retired from politics in 1979, becoming an executive member of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and a member of the Victorian State Relief Committee.

References

1915 births 1988 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for health (Victoria) University of Melbourne alumni Australian Army soldiers Royal Australian Air Force officers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian Army personnel of World War II Public servants from Melbourne Australian schoolteachers 20th-century Australian politicians People from Brighton, Victoria {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub