Paul Lennon

Paul Anthony Lennon (born October 8, 1955 in Hobart , Tasmania ) is an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), who was Prime Minister of Tasmania between 2004 and 2008 .

Life

Lennon was elected on October 16, 1990 as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party in the Franklin constituency for the first time to the House of Representatives (Tasmanian House of Assembly) , the lower house of the Tasmanian Parliament, and was a member of this until his resignation on May 25, 2008. In his first election, he succeeded former opposition leader Ken Wriedt .

After Jim Bacon took office as Prime Minister, he became Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Energy and Resources and Minister for Racing and Gaming (Minister for Racing and Gaming) in September 1998 . After being confirmed by the government in the 2002 elections, in addition to the office of Vice Prime Minister, he also took on the posts of Minister for Economic Development, Energy and Resources and Minister of Racing, Sports and Recreation ( Minister for Racing, Sport and Recreation) .

Due to Bacon's lung cancer , Lennon took over the post of Prime Minister on February 23, 2004, before becoming Prime Minister of Tasmania on March 22, 2004 after Bacon's resignation. At the same time he took over the office of finance minister (treasurer) . As Prime Minister, he strongly supported the Walker Corporation's plan to build a large residential area called Canal Estate on Ralphs Bay off Lauderdale . Against this, there were many protests for ecological reasons: The residential area would be built on sensitive marshland and impair the habitat of migratory birds and rare fish species. The Save Ralphs Bay, Inc. , with the support of local and regional campaigns against it. In December 2004, William Cox was appointed governor of Tasmania by Queen Elizabeth II at his suggestion .

In the parliamentary elections of March 18, 2006, the Labor Party was able to maintain its absolute majority with 152,544 votes (49.27 percent) despite a slight loss of 2.61 percentage points and still provided 14 of the 25 members of the House of Assembly. The appointment of Cox's successor, Peter Underwood , in March 2008 was also made by the Queen at his suggestion.

He resigned as Prime Minister on May 26, 2008, handing over the post of Prime Minister and Chair of the Labor Party of Tasmania to David Bartlett , the previous Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Workplace Relations.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Parliament of Tasmania
• Ministers - House of Assembly - 2006 to 2014