1. Don Chipp began his career as a member of the Liberal Party, winning election to the House of Representatives in 1960 and serving as a government minister for a cumulative total of six years.
22 Facts About Don Chipp
1. 2.
Don Chipp was elected to the Senate on 10 December 1977 and led the party at four federal elections.
3.
Don Chipp was born in Melbourne and educated at Northcote Primary School, Northcote High School and the University of Melbourne, where he graduated in commerce.
4.
Don Chipp played for Prahran in the VFA and was a member of their 1951 premiership side.
5.
Don Chipp entered federal politics in 1960 as the Liberal member for Higinbotham in Melbourne's southern bayside suburbs.
6.
Higinbotham was abolished in 1969, and Don Chipp followed most of his constituents into the new seat of Hotham.
7.
Don Chipp was given the Navy and Tourism portfolios by Prime Minister Harold Holt in 1967.
8.
That was partly because Don Chipp had supported another candidate, Billy Snedden, in the Liberal leadership ballot and partly because Don Chipp did not support a second Royal Commission into the 1964 Voyager disaster, which Gorton felt reflected badly on the Royal Australian Navy.
9.
Don Chipp oversaw the introduction of the R certificate for films in 1970, which allowed previously banned films to be rerated and shown to adults.
10.
Don Chipp was a strong supporter of Snedden, who had become party leader following the 1972 defeat but lost the 1974 election against Whitlam.
11.
When Malcolm Fraser displaced Snedden as leader in March 1975, Don Chipp retained his position, but it was no secret that the two men did not get on.
12.
However, when Fraser won the election the next month, Don Chipp was not included in the ministry.
13.
Don Chipp writes "Liberals thought it was intolerable that any member of the party should appear with 'those people'".
14.
Don Chipp had decided to honour his prior speaking engagement, which had been widely publicised.
15.
Don Chipp decided to resign from the Liberal Party on 24 March 1977 and concluded his speech that day with the following:.
16.
Don Chipp resolutely turned down a series of such leadership offers until, on 9 May 1977, he was accorded an overwhelming standing ovation by a 3,000-strong audience at the Melbourne Town Hall.
17.
At the December 1977 election, Don Chipp was elected to the Australian Senate as a Democrats candidate, with one colleague.
18.
Don Chipp resigned from the Senate on 18 August 1986, being succeeded as leader by Janine Haines and replaced as a senator by Janet Powell.
19.
From 1988 to 1990, Don Chipp conducted a regular talkback program on Melbourne radio station 3AK.
20.
Don Chipp ran unsuccessfully for election as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 2001.
21.
Don Chipp gave an opening address to the Democrats' national conference in Melbourne in May 2006.
22.
Don Chipp died of pneumonia in August 2006 at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne.