Sid Spindler was the son of Gertrud Alma and Oskar Karl Spindler; his father was a businessman.
11 Facts About Sid Spindler
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Sid Spindler was blacklisted from attending university due to his anti-Soviet views, and at the age of 17 was granted permission to move to Australia, sponsored by a relative who had settled in Melbourne.
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Sid Spindler began studying part-time at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1967.
4.
Sid Spindler sold his business in 1973 to become an administrator with the Outer Eastern Regional Council for Social Development, which had been created by the Whitlam government.
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Sid Spindler moved to the Northern Territory in 1978, becoming business manager of the Alice Springs Community College; he later worked as a youth advisor for the NT government.
6.
Sid Spindler was an organiser and candidate for the Australia Party in the 1970s, before joining the Australian Democrats and becoming senior adviser to Don Chipp and Janine Haines.
7.
Sid Spindler was Victorian state president of the Democrats from 1985 to 1989 and a national vice-president from 1987 to 1990.
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Sid Spindler was elected as a senator for Victoria in 1990, serving from 1 July 1990 to 30 June 1996 and managing a range of shadow-ministerial portfolios, as was mandatory for all Democrat parliamentarians.
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Sid Spindler retired from the Senate at the end of his term in 1996.
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Sid Spindler died of liver cancer in the Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, on his fiftieth wedding anniversary.
11.
Sid Spindler was survived by his wife Julia and their four children, Kerry, Chris, Lindy and Bec.