25 Facts About Jon Stanhope

Jonathan Donald Stanhope was born on 29 April 1951 and is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011.

Jon Stanhope is the only ACT Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the ACT Assembly.

From 2012 to 2014 Jon Stanhope was Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, which consists of Christmas Island and Cocos Islands.

Jon Stanhope was one of nine children of schoolteacher parents who had emigrated from England.

Jon Stanhope walked with a pronounced limp until the issue was corrected surgically at age 16.

Jon Stanhope attended Mullumbimby Public School and Bega High School before coming to Canberra to undertake studies at the Australian National University, graduating as a Bachelor of Laws.

Between 1979 and 1987, Jon Stanhope held a range of community roles including:.

Between 1987 and 1991, Jon Stanhope was Secretary of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs; and between 1991 and 1993, Deputy Administrator and Official Secretary of Norfolk Island.

From 1993 to 1996, Jon Stanhope worked as Senior Adviser and Chief of Staff for the Federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, and between 1996 and 1998, advised the then Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, on native title.

Jon Stanhope was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly representing the Ginninderra electorate at the 1998 ACT general election and was immediately elected Opposition Leader by the Labor caucus.

At the 2001 ACT general election, Jon Stanhope defeated the Liberal government of Gary Humphries, although with a hung parliament, and was elected Chief Minister.

On 13 January 2003, Jon Stanhope helped rescue a helicopter pilot who had crashed in a dam during a firefighting operation.

Jon Stanhope faced a no-confidence motion in the Assembly from the Liberal opposition, which if passed meant he would have been forced to resign as Chief Minister.

At the 2004 ACT general election, Jon Stanhope led the Labor Party to win sufficient seats to form a majority government, the first such government in the Territory's history.

In 2005, Jon Stanhope published the confidential draft of the Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 on his website.

The Jon Stanhope Government reported that the number of new civil partnerships entered into "exceeded expectations".

In 2006 Jon Stanhope became the ACT's longest serving Chief Minister, exceeding the record previously held by Kate Carnell.

On 26 November 2007, following the resignation of the Northern Territory's Clare Martin, Jon Stanhope became Australia's longest-serving incumbent state or territory leader.

When Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on 3 December 2007, replacing John Howard, Jon Stanhope became the country's longest-serving incumbent head of government.

At the 2008 ACT general election, Jon Stanhope led the Labor Party to win sufficient seats to form a minority government, again with a hung parliament.

On 9 May 2011, Jon Stanhope announced his intention to resign as Chief Minister and as a member for Ginninderra.

Jon Stanhope formally resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May, and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly on 16 May 2011.

The casual vacancy in the Assembly, caused by Jon Stanhope's resignation, was filled by Chris Bourke.

Jon Stanhope accepted a professorial fellowship in the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, based at the University of Canberra, commencing in August 2011.

On 17 August 2012, Jon Stanhope was appointed Administrator of the Indian Ocean Territories by Governor-General Quentin Bryce.