Donald Leslie Chipp [1925-2006]

I am not a dedicated political follower, but I am interested, and usually know what’s going on and who is who.... I respect and value the men and women of politics based on the people they are and the things they do, not which party they belong to, or even that party’s policies. I am much more interested in the human characteristics they display, and we have certainly had some characters!

I was living in New Zealand for much of the time that Don, (I feel quite comfortable in calling him Don; although I never met him, it’s the sort of bloke he was...) ruled as the supremo of the Democratics- an Aussie political party that held the balance of power in the Australian Senate up until recently.

John Howard in the news today says of him ‘that he was a dedicated follower of whatever causes he believed in...’. He was successful as a politician despite having changed allegiance more than once.

A sometimes controversial politician, he gained national attention back in 1969 when as Minister for Customs and Excise he abolished the censorship of printed material, unbanning many novels and allowing the sale of Playboy magazine.

He was part of the Liberal government that succeeded Gough Whitlam’s Labor Party spell in government, but resigned in 1975 when he was not offered a seat in the new government, some say due to his too-liberal views. He remained for a while as an independent, and followed this with his involvement in the creation of the above-mentioned Australian Democrats party, which adopted the slogan “keeping the bastards honest”.

A charismatic man, who did make a difference.
Vale Don!