Don Dunstan - Life After Politics

Life After Politics

After Dunstan's resignation from parliament and subsequent Norwood by-election, deputy Des Corcoran took his place as Premier and party leader and called a state election. Corcoran's lack of media-savvy, the Advertiser's bias towards the Liberals at this election, and the public's widespread dissatisfaction with the economy and bus strikes brought about an 8.4 percent two-party swing against Labor, leaving the party with only 19 seats against the Liberals on 25 seats. The Tonkin Liberal Government came to power and began reducing the size of the public service and abandoned the Monarto project. Dunstan took a trip to Europe after being released from hospital, staying in Perugia for five months and pursuing Italian studies. He subsequently returned home and lived quietly in Adelaide for three years without finding work that appealed to him, such as those related to the shaping of public policy.

During this time he became increasingly disillusioned with South Australian political affairs. A book by two Adelaide journalists, It's Grossly Improper, was released in November and sold out within a week. It alleged inappropriate use of government funds and a homosexual affair with a restaurateur, John Ceruto in return for political favours. There was initial fanfare and speculation as to the authenticity of its claims; Dunstan dismissed the book as a "farrago of lies" in his 1981 memoirs, entitled Felicia.

In 1982, he moved to the neighbouring state of Victoria, and was appointed the Director of Tourism. This sparked an outcry in South Australia due to the two states' traditional rivalry. For his part, Dunstan said that he had yearned to be given a role in shaping and building the future of his native state, but that he had been snubbed for three years. He said that public figures in South Australia had told him that his high profile and ability to overshadow others could have caused a loss of face to them, and thus his departure would be seen favourably by them, while Victoria's offer gave him an opportunity to be constructive. Dunstan stayed in the post until 1986, when he returned to Adelaide after falling out with the government of John Cain. His retirement from this position followed the provocative publication of a photograph of him with Monsignor Porcamadonna, member of the gay community Order of Perpetual Indulgence, taken after he had launched a collection of coming out stories by gay historian Gary Wotherspoon.

He was the national president of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign (1982–87), president of the Movement for Democracy in Fiji (from 1987), and national chairman of Community Aid Abroad (1992–93). Dunstan was an adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide from 1997 to 1999 and portrayed himself in the 1989 Australian independent film Against the Innocent.

In his retirement, Dunstan continued to be a passionate critic of economic rationalism (neoliberalism) and privatisation, particularly of South Australia's water, gas and electricity supplies. During the 1990s he wrote essays for the Adelaide Review magazine strongly criticising both the Federal Labor Governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the Federal Liberal Government of John Howard and the State Liberal Governments of Dean Brown and John Olsen. He remained an advocate for multiculturalism and cultural diversity, often writing about the dangers of racism. A year before his death, the ailing Dunstan decried Labor's economic rationalism in front of 5,000 at the Gough Whitlam Lecture. In his last interview, he decried economic rationalism as the "nonsense of the Chicago school with which we've been beset". Regardless of the acclaim in which he was held during his decade in power, Dunstan was overlooked for honours after leaving office and largely ignored by the state's elite. No national parks, gardens, buildings or performance venues were named after him, nor were any electorates, which often honour prominent, long-serving politicians.

In 1986 he met his future partner, Stephen Cheng, with whom he opened a restaurant called "Don's Table" in 1994. The restaurant went into deep financial trouble shortly after Dunstan's death and has since closed. He lived with Cheng in their Norwood home for the rest of his life. Dunstan was afflicted by illness in his final years. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1993 before contracting an inoperable lung cancer, which led to his death on 6 February 1999. A public memorial service was held on 9 February at the Adelaide Festival Centre as a tribute to Dunstan's love of the arts. In attendance were former Labor Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, Premier John Olsen, and State Opposition Leader Mike Rann. Thousands more gathered outside the centre in Elder Park along the banks of the River Torrens. State flags were flown at half-mast and the memorial service was televised live. A theatre in the Festival Centre was renamed the Dunstan Playhouse.

The Don Dunstan Foundation was established at the University of Adelaide shortly before his death to push for progressive change and to honour Dunstan's memory. Dunstan had spent his last months helping to lay the platform for its establishment. At the inauguration of the body, Dunstan had said "What we need is a concentration on the kind of agenda which I followed and I hope that my death will be useful in this". The foundation's primary work is the giving of scholarships; an additional aim is to promote causes championed by Dunstan such as human rights, social equality, multiculturalism and aboriginal rights.

The Electoral Commission of South Australia's current draft redistribution includes renaming the seat of Norwood to Dunstan.