Kenneth Hamilton "Ken" Vaughan (29 October 1934 – 22 June 2011) was an Australian politician.

Vaughan's father Clifford Llewelyn Vaughan, a butcher, died from blood poisoning in 1939 and he was raised by his mother, Ruby Sarah, in Richmond

Richmond, Queensland

Richmond is a town in western Queensland, Australia. The town is located on the Flinders Highway, 498 km west of Townsville and 406 km east of Mount Isa. It is the administrative centre of the Richmond Shire. At the 2006 census, Richmond had a population of 554.The Flinders River forms...

, attending school in Charters Towers. He was sent to Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 to live with his aunt in 1950 to begin work as a clerk for Queensland Railways. He concluded his apprenticeship in 1955, but was conscripted for national service in August 1956, serving as an army sergeant at Wacol. In 1958 he was elected shop steward for the Electrical Trades Union

Electrical Trades Union

Electrical Trades Union may refer to:* Electrical Trades Union of Australia* A predecessor constituent of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, a UK union...

 (ETU), and in 1959 married Lesley Cowdroy, in which year he also 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...

.

In 1974 Vaughan contested the Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 unsuccessfully, and was subsequently appointed the ETU's assistant state secretary. In 1977 he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly

Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

 for the seat of Nudgee

Electoral district of Nudgee

The district of Nudgee is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. Based in the north-eastern suburbs of Brisbane, the district is a safe seat for the Labor Party.-Members for Nudgee:-Election results:...

. When Labor won office in 1989 under Wayne Goss

Wayne Goss

Wayne Keith Goss was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996.-Early life:He was born at Mundubbera, Queensland and educated at Inala High School and the University of Queensland...

, Vaughan was appointed Minister for Resource Industries. In 1991 he was appointed Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations, but he retired to the backbench in 1992 and from politics in 1995.