Nicholas Manuel Dondas (26 October 1939 – 8 September 2024) was an Australian Country Liberal politician in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, representing the seat of

Casuarina ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...

in the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member ...

from 1974 to 1994, and the

Division of Northern Territory The Division of Northern Territory was an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in the Northern Territory for the Parliament of Australia. Throughout its existence, it was the only Division in the N ...

in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

from 1996 to 1998.

Political career

As a member of the Legislative Assembly, Dondas served as a minister from 1979 to 1987 under Paul Everingham, Ian Tuxworth and

Stephen Hatton Stephen Paul Hatton (born 28 January 1948) is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff. He first bec ...

. He was deputy leader of the CLP, and hence

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, from 1983 to 1987 under Everingham and Tuxworth. Dondas left the CLP to run unsuccessfully as an Independent for the

electoral division of Port Darwin Port Darwin is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was first created in 1974. It is an entirely urban electorate, covering only 5 km² and taking in the Darwin central business dis ...

at the 2001 Northern Territory election.

Personal life and death

Dondas was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and attended Christian Brothers College, Highgate, and Perth Boys High School. He was of Greek descent. After moving to Darwin, he married Cheryl Jones on 26 August 1972, with whom he had one daughter. He was involved with the Northern Suburbs Community Development Association and the Darwin Regional Tourist Association before entering politics, and was also a keen

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player. Dondas died in Darwin on 8 September 2024, at the age of 84.Former NT politician dies aged 84
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References

, - 1939 births 2024 deaths Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Deputy chief ministers of the Northern Territory Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Northern Territory Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Speakers of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Country Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian people of Greek descent Australian MPs 1996–1998 {{Australia-politician-stub