David Gordon (Australian politician)

Australian politician

Sir David John Gordon (4 May 1865 – 12 February 1946) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1911 to 1913, before going into state politics and becoming a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1913 to 1944 (president from 1932). He was briefly Minister of Education and Minister of Repatriation under SA Premier Archibald Peake in 1917.

Born in Riverton, South Australia, the son of Thomas Gordon, Scottish carpenter, miller, and farmer, Gordon was educated at Stanley Grammar School, Watervale before his family moved to Ardrossan, Yorke Peninsula where he worked on the family farm. and agricultural editor of The Observer (where he sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Wuronga"), and contributed leading articles to both papers. He was in the press gallery of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly for 17 years, and for 10 years was chief of the Hansard staff. As "Timoleon", he contributed the "City Scratchings" column in The Kapunda Herald from 1901 to 1909. He was invited to accompany Clement Giles on his expedition to central Australia, riding on horseback. On his return journey he interviewed Lord Kintore, who was returning from Port Darwin, at Charlotte Waters, and accompanied him to Adelaide. Returning from the trek, Gordon became an enthusiastic supporter of the development of central Australia, writing numerous books and articles on the subject over the next twenty years, including The Central State and The 'Nile' of Australia. Additionally, Gordon edited several editions of the annual Handbook of South Australia.