Natasha Stott Despoja
Encyclopedia
Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AM (born 9 September 1969) is an Australia
n former politician and former leader of the Australian Democrats
. She was a Democrats
senator
for South Australia
from 1995 to 2008. Appointed to the Senate at the age of 26, she was the youngest woman ever to become a member of the Parliament of Australia
, until Sarah Hanson-Young
was elected in 2007.
, the daughter of Shirley Stott, an Australian-born journalist
with English
heritage, and Mario Despoja, an immigrant from Croatia
. She was educated at Stradbroke Primary and Pembroke School
and, later, the University of Adelaide
where she graduated B.A.
. She was active in student politics, becoming president of the Students' Association of the University of Adelaide
(SAUA) and serving as state women's officer for the National Union of Students
in South Australia. She then worked as a political adviser to Democrat senators John Coulter (SA) and Cheryl Kernot
(Qld).
Stott Despoja was elected to the party's deputy leadership in 1997, under Meg Lees
. At the time, she was party spokesperson for parliamentary portfolios including Science and Technology, Attorney General, Higher Education, IT, Employment and Youth Affairs.
During the passage of the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) legislation in 1999, Stott Despoja, along with Andrew Bartlett
, split from the party's other senators by opposing the package, which had been negotiated by Lees and prime minister
John Howard
. She said that she refused to break promises made by the party during the election. The party had gone to the election stating that they would work with whichever party formed government to improve their tax package. The Australian Democrats
traditionally permitted parliamentary representatives to cast a conscience vote
on any issue but, on this occasion, close numbers in the Senate placed greater pressure than usual on the dissenters.
She was replaced as leader by Bartlett following a membership ballot interval during which Brian Greig
acted in the position.
In 2004, Stott Despoja took 11 weeks' leave from the Senate following the birth of her first child before returning to full duties as Democrat spokesperson on, inter alia, Higher Education, Status of Women, and Work and Family.
, she announced that she would not be contesting the 2007 election to extend her term beyond 30 June 2008. She was the Australian Democrats' longest-serving senator. Her retirement coincided with the ending of her party's federal parliamentary representation; the Democrats' support had collapsed after 2002 and they won no seats at the 2004 and 2007 half-senate elections.
She is married to former Liberal party
advisor Ian Smith.
She is a regular commentator on the Australia business news website Business Spectator.
Currently Stott Despoja is a board member of non-profit organisations Burnet Institute
(Australia's largest virology and communicable disease research institute) and beyondblue
(Australia's national depression initiative).
On 13 June 2011, Stott Despoja was named a Member of the Order of Australia
for service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as a Senator for South Australia, through leadership roles with the Australian Democrats, to education, and as a role model for women.
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 former politician and former leader of the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
. She was a Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
senator
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,...
for South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
from 1995 to 2008. Appointed to the Senate at the age of 26, she was the youngest woman ever to become a member of the Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
, until Sarah Hanson-Young
Sarah Hanson-Young
Sarah Coral Hanson-Young is an Australian politician. She has been a Greens member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of South Australia. she is the youngest person ever elected to the Australian Senate....
was elected in 2007.
Early life
Stott Despoja was born in AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, the daughter of Shirley Stott, an Australian-born journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
with English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
heritage, and Mario Despoja, an immigrant from Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. She was educated at Stradbroke Primary and Pembroke School
Pembroke School, Adelaide
Pembroke School is an independent, co-educational, non-denominational, day and boarding school, located at Kensington Park, a suburb 6 kilometres east of the CBD of Adelaide, South Australia....
and, later, the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
where she graduated B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
. She was active in student politics, becoming president of the Students' Association of the University of Adelaide
Students' Association of the University of Adelaide
The Students' Association of the University of Adelaide commonly referred to as the SAUA was a Students' Representative Council like body that existed for students at the University of Adelaide from 1973 until 2007. It was one of a number of student organisations at the university affiliated to...
(SAUA) and serving as state women's officer for the National Union of Students
National Union of Students of Australia
The National Union of Students is the peak representative body for Australian university students. Most student unions in Australian campuses are affiliated to NUS...
in South Australia. She then worked as a political adviser to Democrat senators John Coulter (SA) and Cheryl Kernot
Cheryl Kernot
Cheryl Kernot is an Australian politician, academic, and political activist. She was a member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland for the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 1997, and the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats from 1993 to 1997...
(Qld).
Career
On 29 November 1995, Stott Despoja was appointed to the casual vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Coulter due to ill-health. She completed the remainder of Coulter's term, was returned at the 1996 election and re-elected in 2001.Stott Despoja was elected to the party's deputy leadership in 1997, under Meg Lees
Meg Lees
Meg Heather Lees was a member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002, and was an independent senator between 2002 and 2005, adopting the party designation Australian Progressive Alliance from...
. At the time, she was party spokesperson for parliamentary portfolios including Science and Technology, Attorney General, Higher Education, IT, Employment and Youth Affairs.
During the passage of the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Australia)
The GST is a broad sales tax of 10% on most goods and services transactions in Australia. It is a value added tax, not a sales tax, in that it is refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer....
(GST) legislation in 1999, Stott Despoja, along with Andrew Bartlett
Andrew Bartlett
Andrew John Julian Bartlett is an Australian politician. He was formerly an Australian Democrats member of the Australian Senate from 1997 to 2008, representing the state of Queensland. He was the leader of the Democrats from 2002 to 2004, and deputy leader from 2004 to 2008.-Early life and...
, split from the party's other senators by opposing the package, which had been negotiated by Lees and prime minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
. She said that she refused to break promises made by the party during the election. The party had gone to the election stating that they would work with whichever party formed government to improve their tax package. The Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
traditionally permitted parliamentary representatives to cast a conscience vote
Conscience vote
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party....
on any issue but, on this occasion, close numbers in the Senate placed greater pressure than usual on the dissenters.
Parliamentary leadership and deposition
Stott Despoja was elected leader on 6 April 2001, replacing Meg Lees, who resigned from the party in July 2002. Further public criticism and disputes between Democrat senators resulted in Stott Despoja's resignation as leader on 21 August 2002, following presentation by four of her six colleagues (those who had earlier enabled the passage of the GST) with a ten-point 'reform' agenda proposed by John Cherry. She announced her resignation in a speech to the Senate, concluding with a "pledge to bring the party back home to the members again", and referring to her reluctance over colleagues' attitude towards her.She was replaced as leader by Bartlett following a membership ballot interval during which Brian Greig
Brian Greig
Brian Andrew Greig OAM , Australian politician, was an Australian Democrats member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005, representing the state of Western Australia....
acted in the position.
In 2004, Stott Despoja took 11 weeks' leave from the Senate following the birth of her first child before returning to full duties as Democrat spokesperson on, inter alia, Higher Education, Status of Women, and Work and Family.
Retirement from Parliament
On 22 October 2006, after undergoing emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancyEctopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy, or eccysis , is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo implants outside the uterine cavity. With rare exceptions, ectopic pregnancies are not viable. Furthermore, they are dangerous for the parent, since internal haemorrhage is a life threatening complication...
, she announced that she would not be contesting the 2007 election to extend her term beyond 30 June 2008. She was the Australian Democrats' longest-serving senator. Her retirement coincided with the ending of her party's federal parliamentary representation; the Democrats' support had collapsed after 2002 and they won no seats at the 2004 and 2007 half-senate elections.
She is married to former Liberal party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
advisor Ian Smith.
She is a regular commentator on the Australia business news website Business Spectator.
Currently Stott Despoja is a board member of non-profit organisations Burnet Institute
Burnet Institute
is an Australian not-for-profit, independent non-government organisation that aims to achieve better health for poor and vulnerable communities in Australia and overseas through research, education and public health....
(Australia's largest virology and communicable disease research institute) and beyondblue
Beyondblue
beyondblue is an Australian non-profit organisation which aims to increase awareness and improve the treatment of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and related mental disorders...
(Australia's national depression initiative).
On 13 June 2011, Stott Despoja was named a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as a Senator for South Australia, through leadership roles with the Australian Democrats, to education, and as a role model for women.
External links
- Stott Despoja's website ("Please note this site is for archive purposes only")
- Natasha Stott Despoja, Senate Biography