Wayne Dropulich
Wayne Dropulich | |
|---|---|
| Senator-elect for Western Australia | |
| In office 7 September 2013 – February 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970 or 1971 (age 53–54) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Sports Party |
| Occupation | Civil engineer |
Wayne Dropulich (born 1970 or 1971)[1][2] is a former member of the Australian Sports Party who was elected to the Australian Senate in the final count of the 2013 federal election prior to the Western Australian Senate count being declared void by the Court of Disputed Returns. Dropulich nominated for the special Senate election for Western Australia held on 5 April 2014, but failed to win a seat.
Background
Dropulich, a Perth-based civil engineer and mining project manager who formerly worked at Rio Tinto, conceived the idea to form his own political party with the help of friends in early 2013.[2][3][4] The former gridiron player for the Australian representative team achieved the required 500 members for his Australian Sports Party to be eligible for party status by asking friends and acquaintances to join. Dropulich has said that he had been in interested in politics his whole life despite having never been a member of a political party. Following his initial election, he received criticism for his non-committal stance towards a range of political issues.[1][2]
2013 federal election
Although he received only 1,908 first preference votes in the 2013 federal election,[3] under the single transferable vote system in place for Senate elections he was able to gain the required 123,304 votes to meet the Senate quota in Western Australia. The Australian Sports Party had been involved in preference swap deals organised by Glenn Druery as part of the Minor Party Alliance.[5][6] Initially, Dropulich did not win a seat, but was elected to the Senate upon a recount of the ballots.[7]
The Australian Electoral Commission admitted to losing a significant number of Western Australian Senate ballots prior to them being counted, which resulted in the election being referred to the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.[8] Dropulich spent 114 days as a senator-elect, until the High Court declared void the Western Australian Senate results in February 2014.[9]
Dropulich stood again for election on the Australian Sports Party ticket at the Western Australia special Senate election in 2014 but did not win a seat.[9]
He subsequently opened his own mortgage-broking business in Perth, Senator Finance.[10]
References
- ^ a b Taylor, Paige (9 September 2013). "Dropulich in with a sporting chance". The Australian. p. 5.
- ^ a b c Hopkin, Michael (9 September 2013). "Sports Party's likely senator Wayne Dropulich admits a lack of non-sports policies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ a b Gerritsen, Natalie (9 September 2013). "Grassroots victory in sight". The Australian Financial Review. p. 4.
- ^ Nicolas Perpitch and Paige Taylor (10 September 2013). "Only 1900 votes, but he's likely to take a seat". The Australian.
- ^ Bormann, Trevor (5 September 2013). "Bitter dispute erupts over Senate preferences in Queensland". ABC News.
- ^ Wood, Alicia (5 September 2013). "Micro parties alliance boosts their odds". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Aston, Heath (11 November 2013). "Dropulich joins Palmer's alliance". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
- ^ Griffiths, Emma (4 November 2013). "AEC confirms WA Senate election result, apologises over 1,375 lost ballots". ABC News.
- ^ a b Emerson, Daniel (7 April 2014). "Good sport in defeat". The West Australian. p. 6.
- ^ "On the Wayne". The West Australian. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2020.