Summary heading

Hon Clyde Robert Cameron

Career within Commonwealth

Clyde Robert Cameron was born in Murray Bridge, South Australia on 11 February 1913 and educated at Gawler High School.

Before entering Parliament, he worked as a shearer for the period 1928 to 1938 and became a union official with the Australian Workers' Union from 1938 to 1949.

In 1949 Cameron was elected to the House of Representatives for the seat of Hindmarsh, South Australia, a position which he held until his retirement in 1980.

He was a member of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party Shadow Cabinet from 1953 to 1972 and the Spokesman on Industrial Relations, 1969 to 1972.

In the Whitlam Labor government Cameron served as Minister for Labour, 1972 to 1974, Minister for Labour and Immigration, 1974 to 1975 and Minister for Science and Consumer Affairs in 1975.

As a member of the Australian Labor Party, he was President of the South Australian Branch between 1946 to 1948, 1958 to 1959 and 1963 to 1964. He was a Delegate to ALP Federal Conferences, 1948 to 1977 and a Federal Executive Delegate, 1970 to1972.

On his retirement from Parliament in 1980, Clyde Cameron was awarded the Order of Australia. He died 14 March 2008.

Publications

Clyde Cameron’s published works including the following:

C Cameron, Grappling with the giants: multinational corporations and industrial democracy, University of Western Australia, Perth, 1973

C Cameron, China, communism and coca-cola, Hill of Content, Melbourne, 1980

C Cameron, Unions in crisis, Hill of Content, Melbourne, 1982

C Cameron, The Cameron diaries, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1990

He was also involved in the field of oral history, recording interviews with Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir John Gorton, Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, Sir Garfield Barwick, Sir James Plimsoll, Sir Peter Lawler, Dame Nancy Butfield, Hon Justin O'Byrne, Dr Ian Sharp, Robert Corcoran, Senator James Toohey, Ingrid Murphy and Albert W James. The transcripts of recordings total 34 volumes (15,500 pages). Six million words have been contributed by Mr Cameron to the Oral History Division of the National Library of Australia.

Sources

Parliament of Australia Website

http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?id=2784121&table=HANSARDR, accessed 18 March 2008

Who’s Who in Australia 1998, p317

Unregistered links

1964 - 1964: State Broadcasting Advisory Committee, - Member

1967 - 1967: Inter-Parliamentary Union Council, Geneva - Member

1973: Asian Labour Ministers Conference - Vice Chairman

1973: South Pacific Labour Ministers Conference - Chairman