Editing Sam Calder

{{short description|Australian politician and World War II flying ace}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2007}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = 
| name = Sam Calder
| honorific-suffix =  [[Order of Australia|AM]], [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]], [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC]]
| image = Sam_Calder_1971.jpg
| constituency_MP = [[Division of Northern Territory|Northern Territory]]
| parliament = Australian
| majority = 
| predecessor = [[Jock Nelson]]
| successor = [[Grant Tambling]]
| term_start = 26 November 1966
| term_end = 19 September 1980
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1916|8|10}}
| birth_place = [[Melbourne, Victoria]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|9|30|1916|8|10}} 
| death_place = [[Darwin, Northern Territory]]
| nationality = [[Australia]]n
| spouse = [[Daphne Campbell (actress)|Daphne Campbell]] (1926-2013)
| party = [[National Party of Australia|Country Party (NT)]] (until 1974)<br />[[Country Liberal Party]] (since 1974)<br />[[National Party of Australia|National Country Party]] (federal)
| relations = 
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater = 
| occupation = Pilot, Politician 
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website = 
| footnotes =
}}
'''Stephen Edward "Sam" Calder''' <small>[[Order of Australia|AM]], [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]], [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC]]</small> (10 August 1916 – 30 September 2008) was a decorated [[World War II]] flying ace, member of the [[Australian House of Representatives]], and one of the founders of the [[Northern Territory]] [[Country Liberal Party]]. In federal parliament, he sat with the [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]], later renamed the National Country Party.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://biography.senate.gov.au/kilgariff-bernard-francis/|title=Kilgariff, Bernard Francis (1923–2010)|work=The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate|first=Paul|last=Davey|publisher=Parliament of Australia|year=2017}}</ref>

==Early life==
Calder was born in [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and educated at [[Melbourne Grammar School|Melbourne Grammar]] before joining the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in 1932.  Trained as a [[aviator|pilot]], Calder flew [[Hawker Typhoon|Typhoon]] planes throughout World War II, completing 120 missions over [[Europe]] and receiving the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]].

Following the end of hostilities in 1945, Calder returned to Australia and worked as the chief pilot for [[Northern Territory]]-based airline [[Connellan Airways]].  The airline prospered as it provided a vast network of medical, passenger and mail services throughout the Northern Territory. The airline would eventually collapse{{when|date=February 2022}} following a decision by Northern Territory [[Chief Minister of the Northern Territory|Chief Minister]] [[Paul Everingham]], a political opponent of Calder, to give competing airline [[Ansett Australia|Ansett Airlines]] the rights to the [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]]-[[Alice Springs, Northern Territory|Alice Springs]] route.{{cn|date=February 2022}} Not content with this, Calder also took on the challenge of managing [[cattle station]]s the size of some European countries.

Calder married Australian actress [[Daphne Campbell (actress)|Daphne Campbell]] after they met while she was filming the 1946 Anglo-Australian film ''[[The Overlanders (film)|The Overlanders]]'' in the Northern Territory.

==Politics==
Calder's high profile in the Northern Territory led federal [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]] leader [[John McEwen]] to ask him to stand as a Country Party candidate at the [[1966 Australian federal election|1966 federal election]] in the [[Division of Northern Territory]]. A conservative party had never won the seat, and it was considered a [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] stronghold.  Indeed, the Country Party had last run a candidate there in [[1954 Australian federal election|1954]].  However, Calder took advantage of the retirement of longtime Labor MP [[Jock Nelson]] to win the seat by only 400-odd votes in 1966.  He would extend that margin into thousands over the next decade and a half.

Though he seldom addressed parliament, leading to his nickname "Silent Sam",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110879484 |title=Candidates plunging in with more than usual vigour |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=52 |issue=14,940 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=24 November 1977 |accessdate=5 August 2019 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Calder played an active role, pushing for development in the Northern Territory, and could claim some of the credit for the construction of the [[Adelaide]]-Alice Springs train line and several new roads.  He also took a measure of credit for the Member for Northern Territory being granted full voting rights in 1968, as well as the Northern Territory being granted a fully elected [[Northern Territory Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]], [[Government of the Northern Territory|self-government]], [[Australian Senate|Senate representation]], and the right to vote in [[Referendums in Australia|national referendums]].  After the creation of the Legislative Assembly, Calder helped persuade the Territory's Liberal and Country parties to merge into the [[Country Liberal Party]], which held government in the Northern Territory for over a quarter of a century. Calder also had many ambitious plans which failed to see the light of day, including Northern Territory statehood and a [[nuclear power]] station in the Territory. He retired in 1980.

For his entire political career, Calder was a staunch opponent of [[Native title|Aboriginal land rights]], believing that the then governing Labor Party had sold Australia to the Aboriginals.  Even in retirement, Calder continued to fight the furthering of Aboriginal rights, arguing that they made Aboriginals lazy.

Calder died in Darwin late in the evening of 30 September 2008, aged 92.<ref name=Bourchier>Bourchier, D. ''Northern Territory News'', "PM rejects state funeral for NT hero", 2 October 2008.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{succession box | title=Member for [[Division of Northern Territory|Northern Territory]] | before=[[Jock Nelson]] | after=[[Grant Tambling]] | years=1966&ndash;1980}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Sam}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Melbourne Grammar School]]
[[Category:Country Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia]]
[[Category:Australian World War II flying aces]]
[[Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Australian Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1966–1969]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1969–1972]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1972–1974]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1974–1975]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1975–1977]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1977–1980]]