Senator for South Australia
Minister for Science and Research
Minister Assisting on Tourism
Don was born and raised in South Australia and graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Laws.
Inspired by his mother Mary’s strong sense of social justice and father Edward’s political aspirations in the seat of Boothby, Don was destined to enter the Labor movement.
Working as a shop assistant while studying law, he joined the South Australian Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association and represented the rights of retail and fast food workers for 32 years.
For more than two decades, Don led the union at a state and national level. Passionate about improving the lives of local workers, he helped oversee the introduction of the 38-hour week for retail workers and universal superannuation for all Australian workers.
Don was inspired to run for the Senate by the Howard Government’s unfair treatment of workers under WorkChoices.
“Like so many other ordinary Australians, I was appalled by the WorkChoices regime that the Coalition foisted on ordinary Australian families. It was the worst treatment of workers I’d seen in my lifetime and I’m determined we’ll never see the likes of it again.”
In 2007, Don was elected as a Senator for South Australia, and he has continued to fight for fairness in his community of South Australia, including working hard to deliver a plan that gives his home state its fair share of water in the Murray.
Don was recently appointed as Minister for Science and Research and Minister Assisting on Tourism.
A big fan of the West Adelaide and Adelaide Crows football clubs, and a member of the Genealogy Society, Don and his wife Nimfa have three daughters.