Steven John Doszpot (23 September 1948 – 25 November 2017) was an Australian politician and member of the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory, known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly, is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building, Canberra, Leg ...

from 2008 to 2017. A member 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 represented the electorate of Brindabella between

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and 2012, Molonglo from

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

to 2016, and Kurrajong from

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

to his death in 2017. In December 2012, Doszpot was elected as the Assistant Speaker.

Biography

He was born as István Doszpot in Budapest, Hungary and in 1957, aged nine, migrated to Australia with his refugee parents after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. He completed his secondary education at the Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham (1961–64). He moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

in 1974 and was involved in the computer industry as a senior executive with Wang Computers (Australia),

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

and Canon Australia, with a brief stint at the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

ICT Centre as the Business Development Manager in Canberra, before his election to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2008. He was the Head of SOCOG in Canberra from 1998 to 2000, and managed the Olympic Football Tournament staged in Canberra as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He was President of the ACT Olympic Council and Soccer Canberra and a Fellow of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

. Following the 2000 Olympic Games, he was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for his long-term commitment and service to the sport. Doszpot was the Shadow Minister for Education and Training and the Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation from 2008; the Shadow Minister for Ageing and the Shadow Minister for ICT from 2012. He had previously held shadow portfolios for Multicultural Affairs and for Disability between 2008 and 2012. On 24 October 2017, Doszpot announced that he would be resigning from the Legislative Assembly on 5 December, after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. However, he died from the disease on 25 November, becoming the first Member of the Legislative Assembly to die in office. He was given a state funeral.

References

, - 1948 births 2017 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Hungarian emigrants to Australia Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal 21st-century Australian politicians Deaths from cancer in the Australian Capital Territory Deaths from liver cancer in Australia Politicians from Budapest Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors People educated at Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham Australian people of Hungarian descent {{Canberra-stub

Biography

See also

References