John Panizza was a Senator for Western Australia from 1987 until his death in 1997, representing the Liberal Party.
18 Facts About John Panizza
1.
2.
John Panizza was the son of Caterina Cristina and Bortolo "Bob" Panizza.
3.
John Panizza's parents were Italian immigrants; his father was born in Tirano, Lombardy, and arrived in Australia in 1922.
4.
John Panizza visited Italy in 1928 to marry and on his return settled on a farming property near Marvel Loch, Western Australia.
5.
John Panizza was raised on the family farm, which by 1940 his father had expanded to a wheat and wool property of 6,500 hectares.
6.
John Panizza spoke Italian as his first language and did not learn English until the age of nine.
7.
John Panizza was sent to boarding school at Aquinas College, Perth, returning to work on the family farm with his two brothers.
Related searches
Alexander Downer 8.
John Panizza eventually took over as manager from his father and had real estate interests.
9.
John Panizza was elected to the Yilgarn Shire Council in 1975 and served as president from 1982 to 1987.
10.
John Panizza was initially a member of the National Party and was an unsuccessful preselection candidate for the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1985.
11.
John Panizza subsequently joined the Liberal Party and narrowly lost to the incumbent Nationals MP Harry Gayfer at the 1986 Legislative Council election.
12.
At the 1987 federal election, which followed a double dissolution, John Panizza was placed fifth on the Liberal Party's Senate ticket in Western Australia and elected to a three-year Senate term.
13.
John Panizza was re-elected at the 1990 and 1996 elections.
14.
John Panizza was reportedly the first Italian-Australian elected to the Senate.
15.
John Panizza served as the Liberal Party's Senate whip from 1995 until his death in office in 1997, having previously served as deputy whip from 1993 to 1995.
16.
John Panizza opposed the Keating government's Human Rights Act 1994, which repealed Tasmania's anti-sodomy laws, but ultimately voted in favour of the legislation in line with the Liberal Party's position under Alexander Downer.
17.
In 1958, John Panizza married Coral Noble, with whom he had four children.
18.
John Panizza died on 31 January 1997 while in Cairns, Queensland, to attend a Senate committee hearing.