{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = John Don | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|MBE}} | image = | alt = | caption = | constituency_AM = Elsternwick | assembly = Victorian Legislative | term_start = 10 November 1945 | term_end = 27 May 1955 | predecessor = ''District created'' | successor = Richard Gainey | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1918|9|10}} | birth_place = Ballarat, Victoria, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|4|1|1918|9|10}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | party = Liberal Party<br />Liberal and Country Party<br />Victorian Liberal Party | spouse = Joan Davies | relations = | children = Three daughters | parents = | education = | alma_mater = University of Melbourne | occupation = | profession = Solicitor | known_for = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = <!-- For civilian awards - appears as "Awards" if |mawards= is not set --> <!--Military service--> | nickname = | allegiance = Australia | branch = Australian Imperial Force | service_years = 1940–1946 | rank = Major | unit = 9th Division Cavalry Regiment<br>British Intelligence Corps | commands = | battles = | mawards = MBE (1943) }} '''John Don''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|MBE}} (10 September 1918 – 1 April 2013) was an Australian politician.
Don was born in Ballarat to solicitor Joseph Edwin Don and Mary Minnie Cross.<ref name=arch>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402224659/http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/re-member/bioregfull.cfm?mid=1025 |title=Don, John |date=2 April 2012}}</ref> He attended various state schools before studying at Melbourne University. During World War II he served in the Middle East (serving in the 75th Tank Regiment, 6th American Army)<ref name=arch/> and later the Philippines, attaining the rank of major<ref name=arch/> and being awarded the MBE in 1943.<ref name=parl/> On 9 March 1943, he married Joan Yvonne Davies,<ref name=arch/> with whom he had three daughters.
In 1945, Don was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Liberal member for Elsternwick,<ref name=parl>{{Cite Parliament of Victoria Member Profile |name=John Don |id=john-don |access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> while he was still studying law (he would be admitted as a solicitor in 1954). He was briefly a minister without portfolio in June 1950.<ref name=parl/> A supporter of Thomas Hollway, he was one of the rebels who voted against the McDonald Country Party government in 1952 and served as Minister of Transport and Minister of Labour in the seventy-hour ministry that resulted.<ref name=parl/> Expelled from the Liberal Party, he was defeated as an Electoral Reform League candidate in 1955. A solicitor after leaving parliament, he later re-joined the Liberal Party. Don died in 2013.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-vic-la}} {{s-new|seat}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Elsternwick | years=1945–1955}} {{s-aft|after=Richard Gainey}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Herbert Hyland}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of Transport|years=1952}} {{s-aft|after=Herbert Hyland}} {{s-bef|before=Trevor Harvey}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of Labour|years=1952}} {{s-aft|after=Trevor Harvey}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Don, John}} Category:1918 births Category:2013 deaths Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Category:Victorian Liberal Party (1954) members of the Parliament of Victoria Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Category:Vice-presidents of the Board of Land and Works Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Australian solicitors Category:University of Melbourne alumni Category:Australian Army officers Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II Category:Politicians from Ballarat Category:Ministers for labour (Victoria) Category:Ministers for transport infrastructure (Victoria)