50 Facts About Tom Dadour

Gabriel Thomas Dadour was an Australian politician and doctor.

Tom Dadour was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Subiaco from February 1971 to February 1986, representing the Liberal Party until 1983, when he resigned from the party and became an independent.

Tom Dadour was a Subiaco City Councillor from 1966 to 1978.

Tom Dadour was known for often voting against his own party in Parliament and speaking out against his party and its leader.

Tom Dadour then completed a medical degree at the University of Sydney before moving to Perth to start his career as a general practitioner.

Tom Dadour became involved with the Subiaco Football Club as a sports doctor.

Tom Dadour was elected to Parliament at the 1971 state election.

Tom Dadour worked to have the state's Local Government Act amended to require a referendum for local government boundary changes.

Tom Dadour introduced a private member's bill to ban tobacco advertising, which passed the Legislative Assembly but was narrowly defeated in the Legislative Council.

Tom Dadour was born on 19 April 1925 in Waterloo, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney.

Tom Dadour was the fourth of five children of Alexander Elias Dadour and Nabeeha Cannon Zazbeck.

Tom Dadour's paternal grandfather was a Melkite Christian who arrived in Australia in 1888.

Tom Dadour was educated at Cleveland Primary School, Cleveland High School, and Sydney Boys High School.

Tom Dadour then accepted a university offer in exchange for military service, enlisting in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve on 19 April 1945.

Tom Dadour served in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force when prisoners of war were freed.

From 1947 to 1952 Tom Dadour studied at the University of Sydney, completing a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery.

Tom Dadour was a resident from 1953 to 1956, working at various hospitals including Royal Perth Hospital, King Edward Memorial Hospital, and the Shenton Park Annex.

In 1956 Tom Dadour joined the Subiaco Football Club, becoming the club doctor a year later.

Tom Dadour was appointed an honorary life member of the Subiaco Football Club in 1966.

Tom Dadour was re-elected in yearly elections from then until 1977.

In March 1978, Tom Dadour announced that he would not stand for the council election in May due to his increasing workload as a member of parliament and as a councillor.

Tom Dadour was approached by Premier David Brand and supported by the Australian Medical Association to stand for State Parliament in the 1971 state election.

Tom Dadour stood for the Legislative Assembly seat of Subiaco after the incumbent Liberal member Hugh Guthrie announced his retirement.

Guthrie had won just a 98-vote majority in 1968, but Tom Dadour managed to be elected with a 1,112-vote majority, despite the defeat of the Brand government in that same election.

Tom Dadour was re-elected in the 1974,1977,1980, and 1983 state elections.

Tom Dadour came close to not being re-endorsed for the 1977 state election after making comments critical of the premier and the Liberal Party.

Nominations were extended by a week, but Tom Dadour ended up being re-endorsed anyway.

Tom Dadour was nearly defeated in the 1983 state election after an unfavourable redistribution of his seat's boundaries which removed Shenton Park and added Leederville and Mount Hawthorn.

Tom Dadour successfully sought for the name Subiaco to be retained for the seat, which was otherwise planned to be renamed Wembley.

Tom Dadour was a member of the Library Committee from 1971 to 1979 and the Select Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs from August 1983 to May 1984.

In March 1973, Tom Dadour made a speech in Parliament condemning the John Tonkin government's handling of local government mergers and calling for the Local Government Act's amendment.

Tom Dadour revealed a letter written by Premier Tonkin in 1969 showing that he opposed the council mergers back when he was opposition leader.

Tom Dadour became known for verbal aggression, which annoyed those within his own party, and which, in June 1973, escalated to him punching Labor MLA Mal Bryce, nineteen years his junior, on the right eyebrow while on a Parliamentary tour in Port Hedland.

In September 1975, Tom Dadour claimed that certain police officers were receiving a share of proceeds from prostitution, putting pressure on Premier Charles Court to call a royal commission into prostitution.

Tom Dadour said his position was that prostitution should be allowed but regulated as it was inevitable that prostitution took place.

In 1977, Tom Dadour stated he supported the death penalty for heroin dealers.

Tom Dadour was one of the most prominent critics of the decision.

Tom Dadour presented a petition with 95,000 signatures to Parliament, but nevertheless, the line closed later that year.

In 1980, he threatened to lock National Country Party MLA Bert Crane in his office to prevent him from voting against Tom Dadour's motion calling for the Fremantle line to be reopened, for which the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly rebuked him.

Tom Dadour rode in the driver's cab with Premier Brian Burke and Labor MP Ken McIver on the inaugural train to Subiaco.

In 1982, Tom Dadour introduced a private member's bill to ban tobacco advertising.

Musk then went to Tom Dadour, who was enthusiastic about introducing the bill.

In October 1983, Tom Dadour was suspended from the Liberal Party for claiming that some politicians were bribed by the tobacco industry to oppose anti-smoking legislation.

Tom Dadour resigned from the party that same month, becoming an independent.

In December 1985, Tom Dadour announced his retirement from Parliament at the February 1986 state election.

The candidates to succeed Tom Dadour were former federal Liberal member for Perth Ross McLean and future Labor premier Carmen Lawrence.

Tom Dadour had known Lawrence as she was a patient of his.

Tom Dadour took her to meetings with Catholic priests as he said they were an important part of the community.

Tom Dadour died of pneumonia on 17 March 2011, aged 85, at Hollywood Private Hospital in Nedlands.

On 1 August 1977, Tom Dadour was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.