1. John Biase D'Orazio was an Australian politician who served as the member for Ballajura in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 10 February 2001 to 6 September 2008.
56 Facts About John D'Orazio
1. 2.
John D'Orazio was a minister in the governments of Geoff Gallop and Alan Carpenter, and a member of the Labor Party until 29 August 2006, when he resigned following several controversies.
3.
John D'Orazio studied pharmacy at the Western Australian Institute of Technology, later opening his own pharmacy business.
4.
At the 2001 Western Australian state election, John D'Orazio was elected to the seat of Ballajura, beating the Liberal incumbent Rhonda Parker.
5.
In February 2006, after Alan Carpenter became premier, John D'Orazio was appointed as the minister for police and emergency services, minister for justice, and minister for community safety.
6.
In February 2006, it was revealed that in 2003, John D'Orazio had organised a meeting between Adam Spagnolo, a City of Bayswater employee, and Tony Drago, the owner of a carpet business, where they allegedly reached a deal where Spagnolo would use his position at the City of Bayswater to give carpet contracts to the business.
7.
John D'Orazio's licence was suspended at the time after failing to pay for speeding fines.
8.
John D'Orazio's licence was later reinstated as the speeding fines were sent to the wrong address.
9.
John D'Orazio failed in his bid for preselection for the seat of Morley, so he resigned from the party on 26 June 2008 to stand as an independent.
10.
John D'Orazio went back to running a pharmacy after leaving parliament.
11.
John D'Orazio died on 11 April 2011 during an operation on his heart following a diagnosis of amyloidosis.
12.
John D'Orazio was born on 5 September 1955 in Mount Lawley, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
13.
John D'Orazio's parents were Iterno Giuseppe D'Orazio and Larentina Carione, who had immigrated from the Italian region of Abruzzo in 1949 and 1951 respectively.
14.
John D'Orazio grew up at the family's market garden in Bayswater, another suburb of Perth, and attended Christian Brothers College in Bedford and Highgate, where he was a classmate of Stephen Smith.
15.
John D'Orazio was awarded Sportsman of the Year there in 1978.
16.
John D'Orazio became interested in local government whilst trying to challenge planning precedents that applied to his pharmacy.
17.
John D'Orazio originated the phrase "the Garden City" used as the city's tagline.
18.
In December 1995, John D'Orazio was made an Honorary Freeman of the City in recognition of his service for 17 consecutive years as councillor.
19.
John D'Orazio was the second person to receive that award from the City of Bayswater and the sixth to date.
20.
John D'Orazio resigned as mayor in 2001 when he won his seat in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.
21.
John D'Orazio attempted to gain preselection for Ballajura again for the 2001 state election, but found himself at the centre of a controversial preselection process.
22.
John D'Orazio, who had gained the backing of Labor leader Geoff Gallop and the federal member for Perth, Stephen Smith, went up against lawyer Darryl Wookey, who was backed by controversial former premier Brian Burke.
23.
John D'Orazio was one of a few first-term MPs considered for a cabinet position, but he was overlooked.
24.
From May 2001 to January 2005, John D'Orazio was the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
25.
In 2004, John D'Orazio was accused of branch stacking, with six people signed up as members of his branches saying they are not members of the Labor Party and do not want to be members.
26.
Labor Party State Secretary Bill Johnston investigated the accusations and D'Orazio proclaimed his innocence, saying that those accusing him were aligned with Brian Burke.
27.
At the 2005 state election, John D'Orazio achieved a swing of 8.7 percent towards him, the largest swing in the state for that election.
28.
John D'Orazio was appointed minister for justice and minister for small business by Premier Geoff Gallop.
29.
John D'Orazio acted as attorney-general whilst Jim McGinty was unable to be in the role.
30.
On 24 March 2005, John D'Orazio announced an enquiry into the state's prison system.
31.
John D'Orazio appointed a new head of the state's prison service.
32.
John D'Orazio announced a A$7 million upgrade to security at Karnet Prison Farm and Wooroloo Prison Farm following several escapes.
33.
John D'Orazio later announced a $9.6 million expansion for Bunbury Regional Prison, adding a new 70-bed unit.
34.
John D'Orazio was appointed minister for police and emergency services and minister for community safety.
35.
John D'Orazio resigned as minister for small business, and continued as minister for justice.
36.
Carpenter declared John D'Orazio a "rising star", a statement which soon became a faux pas.
37.
John D'Orazio confirmed that he organised the meeting but said he knew nothing of the business relationship between the two and that he was only acting as a mediator.
38.
John D'Orazio threatened legal action against The West Australian if it failed to print a front-page apology, but neither the apology nor the legal action occurred.
39.
In March 2006, it was revealed that up to 15 staff at John D'Orazio's pharmacy had not been paid superannuation over two to three years.
40.
Staff at the pharmacy said John D'Orazio became aware of the problem before May 2005 when an employee complained to the Australian Taxation Office, but John D'Orazio said he became aware of the problem in November 2005 when selling the pharmacy.
41.
Unions WA secretary Dave Robinson said that it was unthinkable for John D'Orazio to be unaware of the situation.
42.
John D'Orazio was given on-the-spot fines, but reminder notices were sent to his previous address despite him having updated his licence details several years before.
43.
John D'Orazio refused to resign from cabinet, so on 8 May 2006, Carpenter reassigned his ministries.
44.
John D'Orazio was dropped as minister for police and emergency services, minister for community safety, and minister for justice, and he was instead appointed minister for disability services, minister for citizenship and multicultural interests, and minister for seniors and volunteering.
45.
Police declined to charge John D'Orazio for driving without a licence.
46.
The friend refused to help with John D'Orazio, saying he was "unfixable".
47.
John D'Orazio was seen on CCTV footage meeting at Minniti's workplace two days later.
48.
Days later, John D'Orazio said that the request for his resignation was unfair.
49.
In October 2006, John D'Orazio indicated his intention to introduce a private member's bill for Western Australia to hold a referendum on whether the state should introduce daylight saving time.
50.
John D'Orazio received harassment and death threats from daylight saving opponents.
51.
John D'Orazio rejoined the Labor Party in April 2008 after the party decided it was better to let him join than have a costly legal battle.
52.
Premier Alan Carpenter disallowed John D'Orazio from contesting the seat as a Labor candidate, hand-picking Reece Whitby instead, so on 26 June 2008, John D'Orazio left the party and chose to stand as an independent candidate.
53.
John D'Orazio decided to direct the preferences on his how-to-vote cards towards the Liberal candidate, Ian Britza, instead of Whitby.
54.
At the election on 6 September 2008, John D'Orazio received 16.0 percent of the first-preference votes, Whitby received 35.7 percent, and Britza received 34.7 percent.
55.
Two-thirds of voters for John D'Orazio followed his how-to-vote cards, despite most of them having typically voted for Labor in the past.
56.
In 2011, John D'Orazio was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare blood disease in which excessive proteins attack organs; a condition for which he had chemotherapy.