List of Australian politicians convicted of crimes
Federal
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Curtin | 1914 | Labor | Failing to comply with a compulsory medical examination for conscription | 3 days' jail | Later became Prime Minister of Australia; first Prime Minister to be convicted of an offence | [1] |
Benjamin Benny | 1926 | Nationalist | Fraudulent conversion of trust funds | 3 years' jail | [2] | |
Thomas Ley (also served in NSW Parliament) | 1947 | Nationalist | Murder | Death, later commuted to confinement in Broadmoor Asylum | Involvement with a number of disappearances, including that of Frederick McDonald, his predecessor as MP | [3] |
Wilson Tuckey | 1967 | Liberal | Assault | Fined $50.00 | After being convicted of assaulting an Aboriginal man, he was nicknamed "Iron Bar" | [4] |
Derryn Hinch | 1987, 2011, 2014 | Derryn Hinch's Justice Party | Contempt of court, breaching suppression orders | 12 days in prison, 5 months' home detention, 50 days in prison | Hinch was a radio announcer at the times of his crimes, and was elected to the Australian Senate in 2016 | [5] |
Frank Ford | 1996 | Liberal | Fraud | [6] | ||
Bob Woods | 1997 | Liberal | Rorting travel expenses | 18-month suspended jail sentence | [7] | |
Michael Cobb | 1998 | National | Rorting travel expenses | Fined $14,000, 2-year suspended jail term | [8] | |
Andrew Theophanous | 2002 | Labor | Bribery and fraud | 6 years' jail | Served two years and successfully appealed the fraud charge. | [9] |
Craig Thomson | 2014 | Labor/ Independent |
Theft | $25,000 fine[10] | Reduced from 12 months' jail with 9 months suspended on appeal, 49 charges of fraud dismissed.[11] | [10] |
Steve Irons | 2015 | Liberal | Unlicensed drink driving | 4-month good behaviour order | [12] |
New South Wales
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter Howe | 1891 | Protectionist | Conspiracy to defraud the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company | Imprisoned for 7 years, released after 3 years and 7 months. | One of a series of prosecutions in relation to bank failures. Resigned from the Legislative Assembly after conviction | [13][14] |
Frank Smith | 1892 | Free Trade | conspiracy to fraudulently misrepresent the financial affairs of the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company | Imprisoned for 7 years, released after 3 years. | One of a series of prosecutions in relation to bank failures, had been defeated in 1891. | [15][16] |
Francis Abigail | 1892 | Free Trade | Conspiracy to issue a false balance-sheet | Imprisoned for 5 years, released after 2 years and 6 months. | One of a series of prosecutions in relation to bank failures, had been defeated in 1891. | [14][17] |
Thomas Slattery | 1905 | Protectionist | Stealing £6,958 | Imprisoned for 3 years and 6 months, set aside by High Court | Seat in Legislative Council declared vacant after conviction but before the successful appeal to the High Court. | [18] |
Alan Millard | 1906 | Liberal Reform | Misappropriation of £5 of a client's money | 6 months, suspended on 12 month good behaviour bond | Seat in Legislative Assembly was declared vacant | [18] |
Theodore Trautwein | 1940 | Independent | False representation to avoid bankruptcy | Imprisoned for 12 months | Seat in Legislative Council declared vacant by the Court of Disputed Returns. Subsequently imprisoned for contempt of court. | [18] |
Thomas Ley (also served in Federal Parliament) | 1947 | Nationalist | Murder | Death, later commuted to confinement in Broadmoor Asylum | Involvement with a number of disappearances, including that of Frederick McDonald, his predecessor as MP | [19] |
Rex Jackson | 1987 | Labor | Accepting bribes | 10 years | Former Minister for Corrective Services. Increased from 7½ years on appeal | [20] |
Tony Packard | 1993 | Liberal | Unlawful use of listening devices | Fined $1000 | Offences were committed while operating a used-car business, prior to entering parliament | [21] |
Barry Morris | 1996 | Liberal | Making death threats | 1 year | Decreased from 2½ years on appeal | [22] |
Phuong Ngo | 2001 | Independent/ Labor |
Murder | Life imprisonment | Convicted of ordering the killing of Australian MP John Newman on 5 September 1994, a crime which has been described as Australia's first political assassination. | [23][24][25][26] |
Milton Orkopoulos | 2008 | Labor | 33 counts, including child sex and drug offences | 13 years and 8 months (non-parole period 9 years) | Decreased from 13 years and 11 months on appeal | [27] |
Richard Face | 2009 | Labor | Making a false statement to the ICAC | Fined $2,500, three-year good-behaviour bond | Lied about misusing parliamentary and electoral office staff to help set up a consultancy. | [28][29] |
Karyn Paluzzano | 2012 | Labor | Falsely claiming parliamentary payments | Twelve months' home detention | [30][31] | |
Adam Marshall | 2014 | National | Mid-range prescribed content of alcohol | Driver's licence suspended for nine months, fined $2,000 | Returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.112. | [32][33] |
Eddie Obeid | 2016 | Labor | Misconduct in public office | 5 years (non-parole period of 3 years) | Failing to declare his precuniary interest while a member of parliament and subsequent attempts to influence bureaucrats and Labor colleagues so as to benefit his family | [34][35][36][37][38] |
Ian Macdonald | 2017 | Labor | Wilful misconduct in public office | 10 years (non-parole period 7 years) set aside on appeal | Conviction set aside on appeal and re-trial ordered | [39][40] |
Eddie Obeid | 2021 | Labor | Conspiracy to wilfully commit misconduct in public office | Eddie Obeid, Moses Obeid and Ian Macdonald conspired for Macdonald to commit misconduct concerning the granting of a coal exploration licence involving the Mount Penny tenement | [41][42] | |
Ian Macdonald |
Queensland
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Hamilton | 1891 | Labor | conspiracy in connection with the Queensland shearers' strike | 3 years | future state MP | [43] |
Brian Austin | 1990 | National | misappropriating public funds | 15 months | [44] | |
Leisha Harvey | 1990 | National | misappropriating public funds | 12 months | 7 months served in home detention | [44] |
Don Lane | 1990 | National | misappropriating public funds | 12 months | [44] | |
Geoff Muntz | 1990 | National | misappropriating public funds | 12 months | [44] | |
Keith Wright | 1993 | Labor | child sex offences | 8 years (non-parole period 4 years), paroled after 5½ years | Former Opposition Leader | [45] |
Bill D'Arcy | 2000 | Labor | child sex offences | 11 years (non-parole period 7 years) | [46] | |
Merri Rose | 2005 | Labor | extortion | 1½ years | [45] | |
Karen Struthers | 2007 | Labor | Drink driving | $1,000 fine and loss of licence for 10 months | [47] | |
Gordon Nuttall | 2009, 2011 | Labor | Corruption, receiving secret commissions, theft | 15 years (non-parole period 10 years) | [48] | |
Scott Driscoll | 2013 | Liberal National | 42 counts of contempt of Parliament, four counts of failing to register interests and one count of misleading the House | fined $84,000 for contempt;
fined $4,000 for failing to register interests; fined $2,000 for misleading the House; and the Legislative Assembly moved to expel Driscoll from the chamber and declare the seat of Redcliffe vacant "to protect the honour and dignity of the Legislative Authority". |
[49] | |
Paul Pisasale | 2019 | Labor/ | 2 counts of extortion. In 2020 he pleaded guilty to 30 other charges including Fraud, Sexual Assault and Official Corruption | 7.5 years (non-parole period 3 years) | Former Mayor of Ipswich |
Tasmania
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brenton Best | 2002 | Labor | Drink driving | fine and loss of licence | [50] | |
Terry Martin | 2011 | Independent | Producing child pornography and sexual penetration of a child under the age of 17 | suspended sentence | [51] |
South Australia
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beasley Kearney | 1933 | Labor | Fraud | Imprisonment for 3 years | [52] | |
Tammy Franks | 2012 | Greens South Australia | Tax Fraud (10 charges of failing to lodge tax returns) | Fined $6600 and ordered her to pay $7,500 court costs | [53] | |
Bernard Finnigan | 2015 | Labor/ Independent |
Obtaining access to child pornography | A 15-month suspended sentence with a three-year $1,000 good behaviour bond | Also added to the sex offender register | [54][55][56] |
Victoria
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carolyn Hirsh | 2004 | Labor | Drink driving | $600 fine and driving ban of 6 months | [57] | |
Andrew Olexander | 2004 | Liberal | Drink driving | $500 fine and lost of licence for 12 month | [58] | |
Carolyn Hirsh | 2006 | Labor | Drink driving and driving while disqualified | $600 fine and driving ban of 1 year | [59] | |
Adem Somyurek | 2009 | Labor | Driving while disqualified | One-month suspended jail sentence and $300 fine | [60] | |
Tim Smith | 2021 | Liberal | Drink driving | $750 fine and 1-year license suspension | [61] |
Western Australia
Name | Year | Party | Offence | Sentence | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Julian Stuart | 1891 | Labor | conspiracy in connection with the Queensland shearers' strike | 3 years | future state MP | [62] |
George Taylor | 1891 | Labor | conspiracy in connection with the Queensland shearers' strike | 3 years | future state MP | [63] |
John Marquis Hopkins | 1910 | Ministerial | Forging and uttering a promissory note | 5 years | sitting state MP | [64] |
Frederick Baglin | 1923 | Labor | stealing as a servant | 3 years | sitting state MP | [65] |
Brian Burke | 1994 | Labor | misappropriating public funds | 7 months | former state Premier | [66] |
Ray O'Connor | 1995 | Liberal | stealing a Bond Corporation cheque from a parked car | 18 months | former state Premier | [67][68] |
David Parker | 1996 | Labor | perjury | 18 months | former state Deputy Premier, paroled after six months | [69] |
Wayde Smith | 1998 | Liberal | perjury | 18 months | paroled after six months | [70][71] |
Graham Burkett | 2006 | Labor | receiving bribes | 14 months | former mayor of Stirling and state MP | [72] |
See also
References
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