Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu (born 10 June 1961), also known as Maralampuwi Kurrupuwu (), is an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...

from 2012 to 2016. He was originally elected for the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

(CLP), but quit the party in April 2014 to sit as an independent. He briefly joined the

Palmer United Party The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is a currently deregistered Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party ...

(PUP) before returning to the CLP in September 2014. Kurrupuwu was born in Nguiu on Bathurst Island, the smaller of the two main

Tiwi Islands The Tiwi Islands ( tiw, Ratuati Irara meaning "two islands") are part of the Northern Territory, Australia, to the north of Darwin adjoining the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island, Bathurst Island, and nine smaller uninhabited islands, wi ...

. He was named Francis Xavier by Sister Anne Gardiner, after Bishop

Francis Xavier Gsell Francis Xavier Gsell, OBE (30 June 1872 – 12 July 1960) was a German-born Australian Roman Catholic bishop and missionary, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives". He was born at Benfeld, Alsace in 1872. He was ordained as a priest in the order ...

, who had established a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

mission on the island in 1911.CLP Taskforce Report Issue 20
Country Liberal Party, March 2012. A staunch Catholic, he has worked with the Church for over thirty years, and is also manager of the

Australian Red Cross The Australian Red Cross, formally the Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1923 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, the Australian Red Cros ...

on the islands. He has also held many local government roles, including President and Deputy Chair of the Nguiu Community Council, a member on the

ATSIC The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...

regional council, Deputy Chair of the

Tiwi Land Council The Tiwi Land Council is a land council in the Northern Territory of Australia established in 1978 to represent Aboriginal Australians living on the Tiwi Islands. It was established following requests by the Tiwi people for recognition of thei ...

and a councillor in the Tiwi Islands Shire.Green, Antony
Arafura (Key Seat)
''NT Votes 2012'' (ABC), 2012. Kurrupuwu once stood for Labor preselection, but switched sides to the Country Liberals after losing faith in progressive politics, in particular what he called Labor's "condescending" policies towards Aboriginal people. At the 2012 general election, he defeated former AFL footballer Dean Rioli who was the Labor candidate for Arafura—both men are related to former member and footballer

Maurice Rioli Maurice Joseph Rioli Sr. (1 September 195725 December 2010) was an Australian rules footballer who represented St Mary's Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and in th ...

. In April 2014, Kurrupuwu was one of three indigenous MPs, alongside

Alison Anderson Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson (born 28 January 1958) is an Australian politician. She was member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly between 2005 and 2016, representing the electorate of Namatijra (known as MacDonnell until 2012). Cu ...

and

Larisa Lee Larisa Antonia Lillian Lee is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly as the Country Liberal Party, Country Liberal member for Electoral division of Arnhem, Arnhem at the 2012 Northern Territory g ...

, who resigned from the Country Liberal Party and sat as independents. The three MPs joined Palmer United later that month, with Anderson becoming the party's parliamentary leader. In September 2014, Kurrupuwu resigned from PUP and re-joined the Country Liberal Party.

References

External links

Maiden speech in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
23 Oct 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurrupuwu, Francis Xavier 1961 births Living people Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Independent members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Indigenous Australian politicians Northern Territory local councillors Australian schoolteachers Australian Roman Catholics Tiwi Islands people United Australia Party (2013) members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians