Don Dunstan

Don Dunstan was an Australian politician who served as the 35th Premier of South Australia, from June 1967 to April 1968 and again from June 1970 to February 1979. He was born on September 21, 1926, in Suva, Fiji, to Australian parents and was educated at St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide, where he studied law.

Dunstan was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly for the seat of Norwood in 1953, representing the Australian Labor Party. He served as Attorney-General before succeeding Frank Walsh as Labor leader and premier in 1967. After a period in opposition he returned to the premiership in 1970 and held the office for nearly nine continuous years.

His governments oversaw a wide program of social and legal reform. South Australia under Dunstan abolished capital punishment, decriminalised homosexual acts between consenting adults, enacted the country's first sex discrimination legislation, recognised Aboriginal land rights through the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act framework, and lowered the voting age to eighteen. He was also a patron of the arts, supporting the Adelaide Festival and the South Australian Film Corporation.

Dunstan resigned as premier in February 1979 because of ill health and the death of his second wife, Adele Koh. In retirement he wrote a cookbook, ran a restaurant in Adelaide, and continued to campaign on social issues. He died in Adelaide on February 6, 1999.

The name Don is most commonly a short form of Donald, from the Scottish Gaelic Domhnall, composed of elements meaning world and ruler. He used this masculine short form throughout his political career.