Donald George Wing (born 27 April 1938) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician. A member of the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

from 1982 to 2011, representing the

electoral division of Launceston The electoral division of Launceston is one of 15 electorates or seats in the Tasmanian Legislative Council, created in 2008. It also previously existed until 1999, when it was abolished and substantially incorporated into the new division of ...

(briefly named Paterson), he was President of the Legislative Council from 2002 until 2008. Wing was also Mayor of Launceston from 1983 to 1987. Wing was born in Ulverstone, and was first elected to the Legislative Council on 22 May 1982. He is a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

and before entering parliament practised as a barrister. He has served as an Alderman of the Launceston City Council and as Mayor thereof; a path that was later followed by fellow conservative independent MLC

Ivan Dean Ivan Noel Dean (born 21 April 1945) is an Australian politician. He was an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 2003 to 2021, representing the electorate of Windermere. He also served as Mayor of Launceston from 2005 t ...

. He has vocally supported Dean in the face of criticism for holding both positions at once, arguing that his own experience shows that such a career is workable. Although Wing is a former president of the Tasmanian branch of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, he has always served as an independent in the Legislative Council due to his party's stance of not endorsing partisan candidates to the body and instead backing conservative independents. He announced that he would not contest his seat at the next election in May 2011, and relinquished the presidency to allow himself more scope to debate issues on the floor of the Legislative Council chamber.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wing, Don Independent members of the Parliament of Tasmania 1938 births Living people Presidents of the Tasmanian Legislative Council University of Tasmania alumni Mayors of Launceston, Tasmania Members of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Tasmanian local councillors