Sydney Ambrose Negus (12 March 1912 – 1 August 1986) was an Australian politician who was an independent

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

until 1974. He was previously a carpenter and building contractor. Negus was elected largely on an anti-

inheritance tax International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and pro ...

platform, following the death of his brother, Oscar Negus a judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which led to Syd Negus' realisation of the impost of the tax on widows. His campaign established a groundswell of public support and Queensland was the first state to abolish inheritance taxes in 1977; the Commonwealth of Australia and other states followed soon after by abolishing their respective inheritance and gift taxes. Negus was defeated in the 1974 election. He later contested the 1975 Bass by-election as an independent and, at the 1980 federal election, was a candidate for the far-right, anti-immigration Progressive Conservative Party. Negus was president of the West Australian Sporting Car Club and competed in the Australian Grand Prix on several occasions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Negus, Sydney 1912 births 1986 deaths Australian carpenters Racing drivers from Western Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia 20th-century Australian politicians