16 Facts About Greg Wilton

Gregory Stuart Wilton was an Australian politician.

Greg Wilton was a member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Isaacs, from 1996 until his suicide at the age of 44.

Greg Wilton is the only serving member of the House of Representatives to have died by suicide.

Greg Wilton worked as an industrial officer for most of his working career, with the Australian Services Union, National Union of Workers and Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia, resigning from the latter upon his election to parliament in 1996.

Greg Wilton was active in politics for many years, having joined the Australian Labor Party in 1982.

Greg Wilton served as the president and secretary of his local branch from 1982 until 1984, and as a delegate to the party's state conference from 1984 to 1992.

Greg Wilton won pre-selection to contest the Liberal-held marginal seat of Isaacs in the leadup to the 1996 election.

Greg Wilton remained on the backbenches once in parliament, and served on the Financial Institutions and Public Administration Committee for all of his four years in parliament.

Greg Wilton became a very well known and highly regarded local MP, although he was not a major player on the national stage.

Greg Wilton is still regarded as one of Labor's most effective marginal seat campaigners.

Greg Wilton gave away most of his electorate allowance by buying bicycles for school-children in his seat of Isaacs.

Greg Wilton believed in "constant campaigning" which led him to conduct "mobile offices" very frequently throughout his electorate to ensure that constituents could contact him at all times.

Greg Wilton's marriage broke down in early 2000, and rumours began to surface that he would soon resign.

On 14 June 2000, Greg Wilton took his own life in a national park near the town of Labertouche, in the Shire of Baw Baw.

Greg Wilton's death sparked a major reaction, with the media, the Labor Party, and the family law and mental health systems all coming in for some blame in the ensuing days.

Greg Wilton's seat was filled by the Australian Labor Party's Ann Corcoran at a by-election on 12 August 2000.