Demetrios "Jim" Fouras is a former Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. Born in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, he migrated to Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 where he was a research chemist and then a marketing economist with the Department of Primary Industries. 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...

 as the Labor

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...

 member for South Brisbane

Electoral district of South Brisbane

The district of South Brisbane is an electoral district of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. The electorate encompasses suburbs in Brisbane's inner-south, stretching from East Brisbane to West End, and south to Fairfield...

. He held the seat until 1986, when he was defeated for preselection by Anne Warner. He returned to the Assembly in 1989, winning the seat of Ashgrove

Electoral district of Ashgrove

The division of Ashgrove is a Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral division in the state of Queensland, Australia.It is located in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, encompassing Alderley, Ashgrove, Enoggera, The Gap, and Newmarket...

, which he held until his retirement in 2006. Fouras was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly is a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, elected by the whole Parliament to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. The Speaker is supported in his role by officers of the Parliamentary Service,...

from 1990 to 1996.