Don McLeod

Donald William McLeod (1908 - 1999) was an Australian activist best known for his role in the Pilbara strike.

Biography McLeod was born on 8 May 1908 in the remote gold-mining town of Meekatharra, Western Australia. He was the son of Hannah Jane and William Henry McLeod.

McLeod grew up in Geraldton and attended the Presentation Convent at Greenough, where there was an attempt to impose Catholicism on him.

In 1932 he established an asbestos mine in the Ashburton District. He later worked at a mine nearby Marble Bar, and then as a worker on various minor infrastructure contracts.

During World War II he was a member of the anti-fascist league, which led to his interest in socialism. He became a member of the Australian Communist Party. He became a delegate for the Australian Workers' Union in Port Hedland. He stood unsuccessfully for the state seat of Pilbara at the 1943 Western Australian state election, running as a "progressive Labor independent". By the late 1940s McLeod had been in and out of jail several times due to his associations with the strike and his relationships with the Aboriginal strikers.

In the 1950s, McLeod campaigned against restriction on Aboriginal peoples' movement below the 20th parallel.

In 1980, McLeod became involved with the Noonkanbah land rights controversy.

He died at the age of 90, still working for the community associated with the strikers. He died a pauper. He was buried in the Pilbara, at Strelley Station.