{{short description|Australian administrator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Brigadier | name = Sir Donald Cleland | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|CBE}} | image = Don Cleland 000422.jpg | caption = Captain Donald Cleland in December 1939 | office = Administrator of Papua and New Guinea | term_start = 1952 | term_end = 1966 | monarch = Elizabeth II | prime_minister = Sir Robert Menzies (1952–66)<br/>Harold Holt (1966) | predecessor = Jack Murray | successor = David Hay | birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|06|28|df=yes}} | birth_place = Coolgardie, Western Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|08|27|1901|06|28|df=yes}} | death_place = Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | spouse = | relations = | profession = | awards = Knight Bachelor <!--Military service--> | nickname = | allegiance = Australia | branch = Australian Army | service_years = 1919–1928<br/>1939–1945 | rank = Brigadier | unit = | commands = | battles = Second World War | mawards = Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Mentioned in Despatches (2) }}
Brigadier '''Sir Donald Mackinnon Cleland''', {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|CBE}} (28 June 1901 – 27 August 1975) was an Australian soldier and administrator.
==Early years== Born on 28 June 1901 at Coolgardie, Western Australia, eldest son of Adelaide-born Elphinstone Davenport Cleland, mine-manager, and his second wife Anne Emily, née Mackinnon, from Scotland.<ref name=adb>H. N. Nelson, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cleland-sir-donald-mackinnon-don-9762 'Cleland, Sir Donald Mackinnon (1901–1975)'], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 440–441.</ref> On 18 December 1928 he married Rachel Evans at St George's Cathedral, Perth, Western Australia. Energetic, with broad interests and deft social skills, Rachel complemented his dour, sometimes gruff, manner, and eased contact with diverse people. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1981.<ref name=adb/>
==Political candidacy== Cleland stood for the Legislative Assembly seat of Claremont at the 1933 and 1936 state elections, on both occasions with the endorsement of the Nationalist Party. His chief opponent on both occasions was Charles North, the sitting Nationalist member since 1924 and a future Speaker. The margin between Cleland and North was 378 votes in 1933 and 79 votes in 1936 – Cleland polled 49.05% of the vote on the latter occasion.<ref>{{cite book|last=Black|first=David|author2=Prescott, Valerie |title=Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890–1996|year=1997|publisher=Parliamentary History Project|page=58|location=Perth|isbn=0-7309-8409-5}}</ref>
==Military career== For his work as deputy assistant quartermaster general, I Corps, during the campaigns in Libya, Greece and Syria in 1941, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (1942) and mentioned in despatches.<ref name=adb/> In October 1942 he was promoted temporary brigadier.<ref name=adb/> Again mentioned in despatches, Cleland was elevated to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1945.<ref name=adb/>
==Administrative career in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea== Cleland became administrator, succeeding Jack Keith Murray and chaired the Legislative Council of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (which became Papua New Guinea) from 1953 until 1964<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126861642|title=Leading Papua New Guinea towards independence A task discharged with distinction and honour|date=1981-11-29|work=Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995)|access-date=2020-04-19|pages=2}}</ref> and directed the introduction of the first House of Assembly elected by full adult franchise; he restructured the public service so that it would be dominated by Papua New Guineans, paid at a rate the country could afford; and he continued the elimination of discriminatory legislation, most obviously ending the liquor ban in 1962.<ref name=adb/> He was knighted in 1961 and retired in 1967.<ref name=adb/>
==Retirement== In retirement Cleland lived in Port Moresby, the only administrator of either territory to choose to stay there. He was pro-chancellor and chancellor (from 1971) of the University of Papua New Guinea, and chancellor (from 1967) of the Anglican diocese of Papua New Guinea. Sir Donald died on 27 August 1975 in Port Moresby.<ref name=PIM>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-334765460/view?partId=nla.obj-334831192#page/n91/mode/1up Sir Donald Cleland] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1975, pp93–94</ref> Accorded a state funeral,<ref name=PIM/> he was buried in the cemetery at Bomana. He was survived by his wife, Lady Rachel (née Evans), and their two sons.<ref name=adb/> Rachel continued living in their house on Lawes Road in Port Moresby.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Don M. Cleland}} *[http://www.generals.dk/general/Cleland/Donald_Mackinnon/Australia.html Cleland, Donald Mackinnon, Brigadier (1901–1975)], www.generals.dk
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleland, Donald Mackinnon}} Category:1901 births Category:1975 deaths Category:20th-century Australian politicians Category:Administrators of Papua and New Guinea Category:Australian brigadiers Category:Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Australian emigrants to Papua New Guinea Category:Australian Knights Bachelor Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II Category:Nationalist Party (Australia) politicians Category:People from Coolgardie, Western Australia Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea Category:Military personnel from Western Australia