Valentine Joseph "Val" Doube (3 January 1915 – 18 January 1988) was an Australian politician.

Born in Brighton

Brighton, Victoria

Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...

 to hat maker Francis William Robert Doube and Honora Fitzgerald, he was educated at St James' School in Gardenvale

Gardenvale, Victoria

Gardenvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Glen Eira...

 before studying at Melbourne University, receiving a Diploma of Physical Education in 1940. He taught physical education in primary schools from 1933 until 1941, when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force

Australian Imperial Force

The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...

. On 17 May 1941 he married Freda May Scott, with whom he had three sons. In 1943 he transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1945, the year he joined the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, he began work at the Department of Immigration. In 1950 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 as the member for Oakleigh

Electoral district of Oakleigh

The Electoral district of Oakleigh is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers the suburbs of Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Hughesdale, Oakleigh East, Oakleigh and parts of Chadstone, Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Glen Huntly and Ormond.The seat is Labor Party...

. He was appointed Minister for Health in March 1955 but lost the position following Labor's crushing defeat at that year's elections. He held his seat until 1961, when he was defeated; he returned to the Assembly in 1970 as the member for Albert Park

Electoral district of Albert Park

The Electoral district of Albert Park is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers the inner city suburbs of South Melbourne, Albert Park, Port Melbourne and St Kilda...

. He retired from politics in 1979, becoming an executive member of Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

and a member of the Victorian State Relief Committee.