Don Dunstan

Don Dunstan

Don Dunstan

Donald Allan Dunstan AC QC (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of South Australia between 1 June 1967, and 17 April 1968, and subsequently between 2 June 1970, and 15 February 1979. A reformist, Dunstan brought profound change to South Australian society: his progressive reign saw Aboriginal land rights recognised, homosexuality decriminalised, the first female judge appointed and anti-discrimination legislation introduced. He is recognised for his role in reinvigorating the social, artistic and cultural life of South Australia during his nine years in office, remembered as the Dunstan Decade.

Born in Fiji to Australian parents, he moved to South Australia where he completed his education at Murray Bridge High School and St Peters College. He studied a degree in Law at the University of Adelaide and was active in student organisations. After graduating in 1948, he went back to Fiji to practice law before returning to Adelaide in 1951. Entering politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, he became notorious in Parliament for his strongly worded attacks on the policies of the conservative government. He rose through the Labor Party to become leader of the opposition, and then, through elections in 1967 and 1970, premier. After his abrupt departure from politics in 1979, he spent the rest of his days in his Norwood home, writing columns for the The Adelaide Review and briefly operating a restaurant, 'Don's Table'.

Early life

Dunstan was born on 21 September 1926 in Suva, Fiji to Australian parents of Cornish descent. His parents had moved to Fiji in 1916 after his father took up a position as manager of the Adelaide Steamship Company. He spent the first seven years of his life in Fiji, starting his schooling there. Dunstan was beset by illness, and his parents sent him to South Australia hoping that the drier climate would assist his recovery. He lived in Murray Bridge for three years with his mother's parents before returning to Suva for a short period. He won a scholarship in classical studies and attended the prestigious St Peters College, a traditional school of the Adelaide Establishment. He developed public speaking and acting skills, winning the College's public speaking prize for two consecutive years. His academic strengths were in classical history and languages, and he disliked mathematics.

Dunstan is strongly associated with the suburb of Norwood; a memorial in his honour is embedded in the footpath outside the Norwood Town Hall (pictured).

In his youth, influenced by his uncle, former Liberal Lord Mayor of Adelaide Sir Jonathon Cane, Dunstan was a supporter of the conservative Liberal and Country League (LCL) and handed out how-to-vote cards for the party at state elections. Dunstan later said of his involvement with the Liberals: "I do not call it snobbery to deride the Establishment in South Australia, I admit that I was brought up into it, and I admit that it gave me a pain."

His political awakening happened during his university years. Studying law at the University of Adelaide in 1943, he became very active in political organisations, joining the University Socialist Club, Fabian Society, the Student Representative Council and the Theatre Group. A two-week stint in the Communist Party was followed by membership in the Australian Labor Party. Dunstan was markedly different from the general membership of Labor Party of the time; upon applying for membership at Trades Hall, a Labor veteran supposedly muttered "how could that long-haired prick be a Labor man?" His peculiarities were a target of derision by the Labor old guard throughout his early political involvement.

Whilst living in Norwood and studying at university, Dunstan met his first wife, Gretel Dunstan (née Elsasser), whose Jewish family had fled Nazi Germany to Australia. They married in 1949, and moved, after Dunstan graduated, to Fiji where he began his career as a lawyer. They returned to Adelaide in 1951 and settled in George Street, Norwood, with the couple's young daughter, Bronwen. The family was forced to live in squalor for a number of years while Dunstan established his legal practice; during this time, they took in boarders as a source of extra income.

Dunstan was nominated as the Labor candidate for the electoral district of Norwood in 1953. His campaign was noted for his colourful methods to sway voters: posters of his face were placed on every pole in the district, and Labor supporters walked the streets advocating Dunstan. He targeted in particular the large Italian migrant population of the district, distributing translated copies of a statement the sitting LCL member Albert Moir had made about immigrants. Moir had commented that "these immigrants are of no use to us — a few of them are tradesmen but most of them have no skills at all. And when they intermarry we'll have all the colours of the rainbow". Dunstan won the seat by 2,000 votes and was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly. His son Andrew was born nine months after the win.

Dunstan was to become the most vocal opponent of the LCL Government of Sir Thomas Playford, strongly criticising its practice of electoral malapportionment, known as the Playmander, a pun on the term gerrymander. He added colour and flair to debate in South Australian politics, changing the existing "gentlemanly" method of conducting parliamentary proceedings. He did not fear direct confrontation with the incumbent government and attacked it with vigour. From 1959 onwards, the LCL government clung to power with the support of two independents, as Labor gained momentum. Always at the forefront, Dunstan lambasted the government for perceived underspending on social welfare, education, health and the arts.

In 1960, Dunstan became president of the State Labor Party. The year also saw the passing of Opposition Leader Mick O'Halloran and his replacement by Frank Walsh. Dunstan attempted to win both the position of Opposition Leader and, failing that, Deputy Leader. However, the Labor caucus was sceptical of his age and inexperience, and he failed to gain either position, albeit narrowly.

Ascent to power

Federally, Dunstan, together with fellow Fabian Gough Whitlam, set about removing the White Australia policy from the ALP platform. The older trade-unionist-based members of the Labor Party vehemently opposed changing the status quo. However, the "New Guard" of the party, of which Dunstan was a part, were determined to bring about its end. Attempts in 1959 and 1961 failed, with ALP leader Arthur Calwell stating, "It would ruin the Party if we altered the immigration policy . . . it was only cranks, long hairs, academics and do-gooders who wanted the change". However, Dunstan persisted in his efforts, and in 1965 it was removed from the ALP platform; Dunstan personally took credit for the change. Whitlam would later bring about the comprehensive end of the White Australia policy in 1973 as Prime Minister.

A gradual yet consistent decline in the vote of the LCL finally saw marginal urban electorates fall to the ALP in the election of 1965. The victorious Labor Party under Frank Walsh gained power; Dunstan became Attorney-General and Minister of Community Welfare and Aboriginal Affairs. The only cabinet member under fifty, Dunstan had a major impact on Government policy as Attorney-General. Having only narrowly lost out on the leadership in 1960, Dunstan became the obvious successor to the 67-year-old Walsh, who was to retire under ALP rules.

The South Australian Parliament House, situated on the cultural boulevard of North Terrace.

The Walsh Government implemented significant reform in its term of office. Liquor, gambling and entertainment laws were overhauled and liberalised, social welfare was gradually expanded and Aboriginal reserves were created. Strong restrictions on Aboriginal access to liquor were lifted. Women's working rights were granted under the mantra of "equal pay for work of equal value", and racial discrimination legislation was enacted. Town planning was codified in law. Much of the reform was not necessarily radical and was primarily to "fill the gaps" that the previous LCL government had left. The ALP did not have a majority in the Legislative Council, so some desired legislation did not make it through. Many bills were watered down, but due to public disinterest, outcry was minimal. In particular, the council blocked electoral reform legislation, paving the way for a probable LCL win at the next election.

An economic depression had begun in South Australia after the ALP government gained office in 1965; unemployment went from the lowest in the country to the second highest, while immigration levels dropped. The ALP was not responsible for the depression, although it initially did little to alleviate it. The Liberals seized on this opportunity, blaming it on "twelve months of Socialist administration in South Australia" and branding it the "Dunstan Depression". In the federal election of 1966, the ALP suffered a swing against it of 11.8% in South Australia, double the national average. The Liberals dropped Playford as the state leader, and the younger Steele Hall took his place. In a dire situation with the next state election looming, the ALP changed leaders with Walsh standing down in May 1967. Much of the right faction of the ALP was opposed to Dunstan taking the leadership, but no other MPs had the same charisma or eloquence. Eventually, Dunstan won the leadership over Des Corcoran, winning fourteen votes to eleven on the strength of rural and marginal Laborites.

Dunstan's first Premiership was eventful, with a steady stream of reform and attempts to end the depression. The latter half of 1967 saw the beginnings of a slight recovery, with unemployment dipping and industrial capacity steadying. The 1967–68 budget ran into deficit, allocating funds to energise the economic engine whilst Dunstan lambasted the Federal Government for neglecting the South Australian economy, demanding it take a degree of responsibility for its ills.

Elections 1968–1970

In preparation for the March 1968 election, the ALP campaigned heavily around its leader, and this resonated with voters; in surveys conducted in the metropolitan area, 84% of respondents declared their approval of Dunstan. In a presidential-style election campaign, Hall and Dunstan journeyed across the state advocating their platforms. Television saw its first major use in the election, and Dunstan, an astute public speaker, successfully mastered it. Despite winning a 52% majority of the popular vote, Labor lost two seats, giving a hung parliament: the LCL and ALP each had 18 seats, and one seat was in the hands of an independent, Tom Stott. Stott, a conservative, agreed to support the LCL and Hall became Premier.

The South Australian House of Assembly. The Assembly's composition was radically altered after changes were made to electoral legislation, abolishing the electoral malappointment of the 'Playmander'.

There was a degree of speculation in the press that Dunstan would call for a new election because of the adverse outcome. However, Dunstan realised the futility of such a move and instead sought to humiliate the Hall Government into bringing an end to malapportionment. Protests were held on March 15 in Light Square. There, Dunstan spoke to a crowd of more than 10,000: "We need to show that the people of SA feel that at last the watershed has been reached in this, and that they will not continue to put up with a system which is as undemocratic as the present one in SA." Dunstan did not resign as premier until April 16, the first day of the Parliamentary sitting. When a motion was carried and the LCL had obvious control of the House, only then did he visit the Governor to resign.

With the end of Playford's tenure, the Liberal and Country League had brought younger, more progressive members into its ranks. The Hall Government continued many of the social reforms that the Walsh/Dunstan governments had initiated; most of these at the instigation of Hall or his Attorney-General, Robin Millhouse. Abortion was partially legalised, and planning for the Festival Centre began. The conservative and rural factions of the League were bitterly opposed to some reforms, and more than once Hall was forced to rely on ALP support to see bills passed. The LCL began to break apart; what had once been a united party was now factionalised—four distinct groups across the political spectrum appeared within the party. The economy of South Australia began to pick up under Hall, returning to full employment.

Electoral reform was implemented in 1969, although not to the extent that Dunstan and the ALP had wished. The lower house formerly had 39 seats, a third of them in Adelaide. Now, 47 seats were to be contested: 28 in Adelaide and 19 in the country. It was not 'one vote one value', but it made an ALP win at the next election likely. Stott withdrew support in 1970 over the Chowilla Dam, and South Australia went to the polls. Dunstan won the election easily, taking 27 seats compared with the LCL's 20. The ALP saw a slight decline in its vote from 1968, but with the redistribution of seats, the election was clear-cut and Dunstan again became Premier.

The Dunstan Decade

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Dunstan (second from right) at The Lodge with Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (right).

Dunstan wasted no time in organising his new ministry, taking several portfolios for himself, and again taking the position of Treasurer. Deputy Premier Des Corcoran took on most infrastructure portfolios—Marine and Harbours, and Public Works. Corcoran became the face of the Dunstan ministry in its relationship with the Labor caucus, with his ability to use his strong manner to settle disputes. Bert Shard became Health Minister, overseeing the construction and planning of new, major public hospitals: the Flinders Medical Centre and Modbury Hospital. Hugh Hudson took on the Education portfolio, an important role in a government that was determined to bring about profound change to the South Australian education system. Dunstan's interest in education coincided with his interest in South Australian food and drink with the establishment of the Regency Park School of Food and Catering, which was influential in developing a culture of food appreciation.Geoff Virgo, the new Transport Minister, was to deal with the Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study (MATS) plans. Dunstan formed a strong circle of loyal ministers around him, in a style radically different from his predecessors.

Soon after the election, Dunstan journeyed to Canberra for the annual Premiers' Conference as the sole Labor premier. His Government, on a mandate to dramatically increase funding in key areas, sought to appropriate further finances from the Federal Government. This brought Dunstan into conflict with Prime Minister John Gorton, and federal funding to SA was not increased. An appeal was made to the Federal Grants Commission, and Dunstan was awarded more than he had hoped for. In addition to the money received from the Grants Commission, funds were diverted from water-storage schemes in the Adelaide Hills over the advice of engineers, and cash reserves were withdrawn from the two government-owned banks. The monies were subsequently used to finance health, education and arts schemes.

On the death of Governor James Harrison in 1971, Dunstan finally had the chance to appoint the governor of his choosing: Mark Oliphant, a physicist who had worked on the Manhattan Project. Dunstan had never been happy that governors were usually British ex-servicemen; it was a personal goal of his to see an active and notable South Australian take on the role.

The Adelaide Festival Centre; a 620-seat theatre in the complex is named the "Dunstan Playhouse" in his honour.

In 1972, the first major developments in regard to the state's population growth occurred. Adelaide's population was set to increase to 1.3 million and the MATS plan and water-storage schemes were in planning to accommodate this. These were summarily rejected by the Dunstan Government, which planned to build a new city 83 kilometres from Adelaide, near Murray Bridge. The city, to be known as Monarto, was to be built on farmland to the west of the existing town. Dunstan was very much against allowing Adelaide's suburbs to further sprawl, and thus Monarto was a major focus of his government. He argued that the new South Eastern Freeway would allow a drive of only 45 minutes from Adelaide, that the city was not far from current industry, and that water could be readily supplied from the River Murray.

From 1970 to 1973, more legislation passed through the South Australian Parliament than at any other time before. Workers saw increases in welfare, drinking laws were further liberalised, police powers were restricted, an Ombudsman was created, censorship was liberalised, the education system was overhauled and the public service was gradually increased (doubling in size during the Dunstan era). The dress code for the Parliament was relaxed during this period, and MPs started wearing items such as shorts to proceedings. Dunstan himself caused media frenzy when he arrived at Parliament House dressed in what was described as "flesh-pink hot pants".

In 1972 Dunstan separated from his wife and moved into a small flat in Kent Town, adjacent to Norwood. The family home was sold as two of the children were already studying in university. In 1974 the couple were finally divorced. Dunstan notes this period as being initially a "very bleak and lonely" time for him. In absence of his family, he made new friends and acquaintances. Friends living nearby would come to his apartment for conversation and good food—cooking was Dunstan's hobby. Dunstan bought another house in 1974, partially financed from a then-unpublished cookbook. In 1976, Don Dunstan's Cookbook was published—the first cookbook released by a serving Australian leader.

In pursuit of economic links with the nations of South-East Asia, Dunstan came into contact with the leaders of the Malaysian state of Penang in 1973. Striking a note with Chong Eu Lim, the Chief Minister, Dunstan set about organising cultural and economic engagement between the two states. "Penang Week" was held in Adelaide in July, and in return, "South Australia Week" was held in Penang's capital, George Town. Earlier, on June 23, the Adelaide Festival Centre was completed—Australia's first multifunction performing arts complex.

The South Australian Legislative Council, the Upper House in the Parliament, was, due to its limited electoral roll, overwhelmingly non-Labor. Unlike the Lower House, its members were elected only by voters who met certain property and wealth requirements. Combined with the remains of the "Playmander" malapportionment, it was difficult for the Labor Party to achieve the representation it wished. The Legislative Council either watered down or outright rejected a considerable amount of Labor legislation; bills to legalise homosexuality, abolish capital punishment and allow gambling and casinos were rejected. This brought Dunstan to call a snap election in 1973, hoping to gain a mandate to seek changes to the Council. The Labor Party won with 54.5% of the two-party preferred vote and secured 26 seats in the House; it began its first consecutive term with a majority government.

Dunstan saw reform of the Legislative Council an important goal, and later a prime achievement, of his Government. Labor, as a matter of party policy, wanted to see the Legislative Council abolished. Dunstan, seeing this as unfeasible in his term, set about to reform it instead. Two bills were prepared for Legislative Council reform; one to lower the voting age to 18 and introduce universal suffrage, and another to make councillors elected from a single statewide electorate under a system of proportional representation. The LCL initially blocked both bills, stating that it would only accept them if modifications were made to the second one. Changes were conceded; unlike the House of Assembly, voting would not be compulsory and the preference system was to be slightly altered. Once the amendments were made, the legislation was passed.

'Dunstan to dump Whitlam for SA poll", political cartoon by Stewart McCrae. The state election win was only possible by Dunstan (pictured in the row boat) distancing his government from the Commonwealth.

Prior to the 1975 federal and state elections, Australia, and South Australia in particular, had been hit by a series of economic problems. The 1973 oil crisis had massively increased the cost of living, domestic industry began to erode due to a lack of cost-competitiveness, and government funds were waning. In response, the Dunstan Government sold loss-making railways to the Commonwealth and brought in new taxes to allow wage rises. The changes had unexpected consequences: inflation, already high, increased markedly, and workers were still displeased with wages. Dunstan appealed to the electorate and pushed blame onto the Whitlam Government for South Australia's problems. In a television address just days before the election, he said: "My Government is being smeared and it hurts. They want you to think we are not to blame for Canberra's mistakes. The vote on Saturday is not for Canberra, not for Australia, but for South Australia."

The ALP remained the largest party in Parliament, but lost the two-party-preferred vote at 49.2% and saw its numbers decrease from 26 to 23. The LCL held 20 seats, the Liberal Movement two, the Country Party one, and the last remaining with an independent, the nominally Labor Mayor of Port Pirie, Ted Connelly. Dunstan appealed to Connelly and offered him the role of Speaker.

Dunstan continued to try to push through further legislation; he sought to expand on the Hall Government's electoral-boundaries reform, to bring it closer to one vote one value. The legislation sought to establish 47 electoral districts containing roughly equal numbers of voters (with a 10% tolerance). Redistributions were to be presided over by an independent boundaries commission. The bill passed with the support of independent, Ted Connelly, and the two members of the breakaway Liberal Movement party—former Premier Steele Hall and his former Attorney-General Robin Millhouse.

In 1976, the Dunstan Government stepped up its legislative efforts. Some bills, such as the one to remove the sodomy law and decriminalise male homosexuality, were initially blocked by the Legislative Council. However, the bill to abolish capital punishment passed with ease, and the homosexuality law reforms eventually passed in September. Rape law was properly codified and defined as a crime within marriage for the first time in Australia. Shopping hours, previously the most restrictive in the nation, became the most open. The first signs of Monarto's eventual failure began to appear: birth rates started dropping significantly, immigration slowed and the economy was stagnant. South Australia's robust population growth, previously the highest per capita among the states, came to an abrupt halt. However, federal and state money continued to be poured into the Monarto project.

Douglas Nicholls, appointed by Don Dunstan as the first Indigenous Governor of South Australia.

In 1973 Adele Koh, a Malaysian formerly living in Singapore, was appointed to work for Dunstan. She had been expelled by the Singaporean Government of Lee Kwan Yew for criticising its policies. The newspaper she had been working for, the Singapore Herald, was shut down by the government and she then moved to Australia. A relationship developed in 1974 between her and Dunstan, and they were married two years later in a small ceremony at his residence.

After Oliphant's term had expired, Dunstan appointed the first Indigenous Australian Governor, Douglas Nicholls, a former football player and clergyman. Following Nicholls' resignation due to ill health in 1977, a second consecutive clergyman took the post, Methodist Keith Seaman. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip made their third visit to South Australia to appoint the new governor and opened the completed Festival Theatre, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Walter Crocker and Dunstan.

Dunstan called another snap election in September 1977; he hoped to recover from the previous election, the outcome of which had been affected by the dismissal of the Federal Labor Government. The ALP won an absolute majority with 51.6% of the vote and 27 seats again.

The South Australian Police had since 1949 a "Special Branch" in its forces for the purposes of surveillance and espionage. Conceived earlier as an "intelligence branch" in 1939 for the purposes of spying on the large German Australian community in World War II, it had amassed information on tens of thousands of individuals and organisations. While such an operation was of concern to Dunstan and his government for civil liberty reasons, its apparent party-political bias was even more concerning to them. In particular, the branch held information files on Labor parliamentarians, communists, church leaders, trade unionists and so-called "pink files" on gay community activists dating from the time before homosexuality was decriminalised. Only two Labor MPs, from both federal and state parliaments, did not have files, whereas the branch held significantly fewer files relating to Liberal figures. Dunstan had known of the existence of the branch since 1970, when he was told by Police Commissioner Harold Salisbury that it predominantly focused on politically motivated violence.

An inquiry was conducted into the branch by Justice White of the Supreme Court of South Australia, and the report was placed in Dunstan's hands on 21 December 1977. After reviewing the report, Dunstan sacked Police Commissioner Salisbury in January and threatened to release the report to the public. However, Salisbury had a reputation as a man of integrity, and controversy erupted regarding the inquiry and Dunstan's actions. A Royal Commission investigated at the instigation of the Liberals. The Inquiry cleared the Dunstan Government of any error, as it had not known about the Special Branch's activities earlier. Dunstan sacked Salisbury for misleading Parliament about the existence of the "pink files" and many of the Special Branch files were burnt. Salisbury retired to the United Kingdom with a $160,000 payout; a book, The Salisbury Affair by Stewart Cockburn, was written about the debacle.

Dunstan's wife Adele was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in May 1978. She died in October after Dunstan had cared for her at her bedside for months; her passing seriously affected him and his own health began to suffer. After returning from Europe to study safe methods of nuclear power during the Australian summer, Dunstan was extremely ill. When Parliament resumed, he collapsed on the floor of the House and was forced to use a walking stick; his doctor advised him that he required six months of rest to recover. The Liberal Opposition seized on the state of affairs and charged that the Labor Party was "as ailing as the man who led it". In a stage-managed press conference on 15 February 15 1979, Dunstan announced his retirement as premier from his room in Calvary Hospital while shaking and wearing a dressing gown.

Life after politics

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Don Dunstan's Memoirs, Felicia

After Dunstan's resignation as premier, deputy Des Corcoran took his place and called an election. Corcoran's lack of media-savvy and the public's widespread dissatisfaction with the economy and bus strikes brought about an 11% swing against Labor, leaving the party with only 19 seats. The Tonkin Liberal Government came to power and began reducing the size of the public service and abandoned the Monarto project. Dunstan took a trip to Europe after being released from hospital, and subsequently became increasingly disillusioned with South Australian political affairs. A book by two Adelaide journalists, It's Grossly Improper, was released in November and sold out within a week. It alleged inappropriate use of government funds and a homosexual affair with a restaurateur, John Ceruto. There was initial fanfare and speculation as to the authenticity of its claims; Dunstan dismissed the book as a "farrago of lies". Dunstan's memoirs, entitled Felicia, were published in 1981.

He moved to the neighbouring state of Victoria and became the Director of Tourism until 1986, when he returned to Adelaide. His retirement from this position followed the provocative publication of a photograph of him with Monsignor Porcamadonna, member of the gay community Order of Perpetual Indulgence, taken after he had launched a collection of coming out stories by gay historian Gary Wotherspoon.

He was national president of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign (1982–87), president of the Movement for Democracy in Fiji (from 1987), and national chairman of Community Aid Abroad (1992–93). Dunstan was an adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide from 1997 until 1999.

He portrayed himself in the 1989 Australian independent film Against the Innocent.

In his retirement, Dunstan continued to be a passionate critic of economic rationalism (neoliberalism) and privatisation, particularly of South Australia's water, gas and electricity supplies. During the 1990s he wrote essays for the Adelaide Review magazine strongly criticising both the Federal Labor Governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the Federal Liberal Government of John Howard and the State Liberal Governments of Dean Brown and John Olsen. He remained an advocate for multiculturalism and cultural diversity, often writing about the dangers of racism.

In 1986 he met his future partner, Stephen Cheng, with whom he opened a restaurant called "Don's Table" in 1994. He lived with Cheng in their Norwood home until his death from cancer on February 6, 1999. A public memorial service was held on 9 February at the Adelaide Festival Centre as a tribute to Dunstan's love of the arts. In attendance were former Labor Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, Premier John Olsen, and State Opposition Leader Mike Rann. Thousands more gathered outside the centre in Elder Park along the banks of the River Torrens. A private service was held for close family and friends later in the day. State flags were flown at half-mast and the memorial service was televised live. A theatre in the Festival Centre was renamed the Dunstan Playhouse.

The Don Dunstan Foundation was established shortly before his death to push for progressive change and to honour Dunstan's memory.

References

• Blewett, Neal (1971). Playford to Dunstan: The Politics of Transition. Griffin Press Limited. ISBN 0-7015-1299-7.
• Yeeles, Richard (1978). Don Dunstan: The first 25 years in Parliament. Hill of Content Publishing. ISBN 0-85572-099-9.
• Ryan, Des (1979). It's Grossly Improper. WENAN. ISBN 0-9595162-0-4.
• Dunstan, Don (1981). Felicia: The Political Memoirs of Don Dunstan. Griffin Press Limited. ISBN 0-333-33815-4.
• Crocker, Walter (1983). Sir Thomas Playford: A Portrait. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84250-X.
• Spoehr, John (2000). Don Dunstan: Politics and Passion. Bookends Books. ISBN 1-876725-18-4.

External links

• Donald Allan Dunstan, Parliament of South Australia
• Don Dunstan Foundation
• Don Dunstan, Flinders Rangers Research
• Dunstan Collection, Flinders University Library
• Dunstan Biography, Flinders University Library
• Don Dunstan ABC News Obituary
• Don Dunstan profile, Miles Ago - Australasian music and popular culture