Don Hopgood

Donald Jack Hopgood AO (born 5 September 1938) is a former South Australian politician who was the 5th Deputy Premier of South Australia from 1985 to 1992. Hopgood represented the House of Assembly seats of Mawson from 1970 to 1977 and Baudin from 1977 to 1993 for the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, and was promoted to the Labor frontbench in 1973.

The Honourable Dr Don Hopgood AO
Deputy Premier of South Australia
In office 26 July 1985 – 4 September 1992
Premier	John Bannon
Preceded by	Jack Wright
Succeeded by	Frank Blevins
Deputy Leader of the South Australian Labor Party
In office July 1985 – 4 September 1992
Leader	John Bannon
Preceded by	Hugh Hudson
Succeeded by	Frank Blevins
Minister of Community Welfare Minister of Family and Community Services
In office 20 April 1989 – 1 October 1992
In office 04 August 1988 – 12 August 1988
Minister for the Aged
In office 20 April 1989 – 1 October 1992
Minister of Health
In office 20 April 1989 – 1 October 1992
Minister of Water Resources
In office 18 December 1985 – 29 July 1988
Chief Secretary of South Australia
In office 16 July 1985 – 20 April 1989
Minister of Emergency Services
In office 16 July 1985 – 20 April 1989
Minister of Lands Minister of Repatriation
In office 10 November 1982 – 16 July 1985
Premier	John Bannon
Preceded by	Peter Arnold
Succeeded by	Roy Abbott
Minister for Environment and Planning
In office 10 November 1982 – 20 April 1989
Minister of Education
In office 24 June 1975 – 18 September 1979
Premier	Don Dunstan Des Corcoran
Preceded by	Hugh Hudson
Succeeded by	Harold Allison
Minister Assisting the Premier
In office 20 September 1973 – 23 June 1975
Minister of Development and Mines
In office 20 September 1973 – 23 June 1975
Member of the South Australian Parliament for Baudin
In office 17 September 1977 – 11 December 1993
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	Donald Jack Hopgood (1938-09-05) 5 September 1938 (age 87) Prospect, South Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse	Helen Raelene Medlin ​ ​ (m. 1964; died 2007)​
Children	three
Parent(s)	Jack and Gwen (nee Bessell) Hopgood
Alma mater	Flinders University
Moderator of the Synod of South Australia
Church	Uniting Church in Australia
Elected	1997
Term ended	1999
Predecessor	Rev Margaret Polkinghorne
Successor	Rev Don Catford
[1]

Early life and education

Donald Jack Hopgood was born on born 5 September 1938 at Prospect, an inner northern suburb of Adelaide. His father worked at Berger Paints. His maternal grandfather worked at Islington Railway Workshops, while his paternal grandfather was a retired typesetter.^[2]

Hopgood grew up in Prospect and was a member of the Prospect North Methodist Church Sunday school.^[2] He went to Prospect Primary School and Adelaide Boys' High School.^[3]

He then trained to be a teacher at Adelaide Teachers' College on Kintore Avenue, Adelaide.^[4] Hopgood started learning to play jazz trumpet at age 18, and played in jazz bands at church and university.^[5]

Career

Teaching

Hopgood taught from 1960^[6] at Le Fevre Boys' Technical High School for three years, then moved to Whyalla Technical High School for a year (while still studying), then Westminster School for almost five years. He started teaching science, including physics, but after graduating in arts started teaching modern history as well. He did an honours degree in arts while teaching at Westminster.^[7]

He won a three-year scholarship to study for a PhD from Flinders University,^[8] so left teaching to do his PhD^[6] in 1968. He was still studying for his PhD when he was elected to state parliament, so converted the final year to part-time.^[9] His thesis was on history, which was within the School of Social Science at Flinders, titled "A Psephological Examination of the South Australian Labor Party from World War I to the Depression".^[10]

Politics

Hopgood represented the House of Assembly seats of Mawson from 1970 to 1977 and Baudin from 1977 to 1993 for the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, and was promoted to the Labor frontbench in 1973.^[1]

Other activities

Hopgood was a lay preacher during his early years as a teacher.^[6]

He was moderator of the Synod of South Australia of the Uniting Church in Australia from 1997 to 1999.^[11]

Personal life

Hopgood got engaged in Whyalla in 1963 and married in 1964. His wife moved to Adelaide with him and also taught at Westminster School.^[6]