Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He is the only ACT Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the ACT Assembly. From 2012 to 2014 Stanhope was Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, which consists of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Early years and background
Stanhope was born in Gundagai, New South Wales. He was one of nine children of schoolteacher parents who had emigrated from England. At age 5 he injured his knee, which developed into osteomyelitis, resulting in one leg being 2.5 inches longer than the other. He walked with a pronounced limp until the issue was corrected surgically at age 16. Much of his junior education was spent at one-teacher schools in country NSW. He attended Mullumbimby Public School and Bega High School before coming to Canberra to undertake studies at the Australian National University, graduating as a Bachelor of Laws.
Between 1979 and 1987, Stanhope held a range of community roles including: President ACT Council for Civil Liberties Original co-convener of Racial Respect in the ACT President ACT Hospice and Palliative Care Society ACT convener of the National Coalition for Gun Control
Between 1987 and 1991, Stanhope was Secretary of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs; and between 1991 and 1993, Deputy Administrator and Official Secretary of Norfolk Island. From 1993 to 1996, Stanhope worked as Senior Adviser and Chief of Staff for the Federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, and between 1996 and 1998, advised the then Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, on native title.
Political career
Stanhope was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly representing the Ginninderra electorate at the 1998 ACT general election and was immediately elected Opposition Leader by the Labor caucus.
At the 2001 ACT general election, Stanhope defeated the Liberal government of Gary Humphries, although with a hung parliament, and was elected Chief Minister. In the lead-up to the election, Stanhope played a major role in the Bruce Stadium affair that led to the resignation of the former Chief Minister, Kate Carnell.
On 13 January 2003, Stanhope helped rescue a helicopter pilot who had crashed in a dam during a firefighting operation. Stanhope, who was in a second helicopter with crew and the ACT head of the bushfire services, Peter Lucas-Smith, had responded to the stricken pilot's Mayday call. The man had suffered serious head injuries and was taken to the Canberra Hospital in a critical condition. After the rescue Stanhope praised the emergency services: "It provided to me a very stark awareness of the enormous risks that many in our community take, the extent to which so many people put their lives on their line to ensure the protection of our communities".
Canberra was hit by bushfires in January 2003. Four people died and 500 houses were destroyed. Stanhope faced a no-confidence motion in the Assembly from the Liberal opposition, which if passed meant he would have been forced to resign as Chief Minister. Instead, the motion was downgraded to a censure motion by the combined vote of the ALP and the Democrats and passed in the Assembly. The coronial inquest into the bushfire was released in mid-December 2006, and found significant bureaucratic failings contributed to the devastation, although it also claimed shortcomings at a political level.
At the 2004 ACT general election, Stanhope led the Labor Party to win sufficient seats to form a majority government, the first such government in the Territory's history.
As Chief Minister, he introduced a Human Rights Act, in 2004, the first jurisdiction in Australia to do so. In 2005, Stanhope published the confidential draft of the Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 on his website. Citing concerns about the removal of basic human rights, Stanhope later refused to sign a revised version of the legislation, becoming the only state or territory leader to do so.