Leonard William Stephan (25 July 1935 – 2 September 2012) was an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

from 1979 to 2001, representing the electorate of

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...

Early life

Born in Brisbane, Stephan was a farmer,

Shire of Widgee The Shire of Widgee is a former local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett area of Queensland, Australia. It was located in the rural areas around the town of Gympie but did not include the town itself, which was always in a separate local g ...

councillor and Gympie Agricultural Society president before entering politics.

Politics

Stephan was elected to the safe National seat of Gympie at the 1979 Gympie by-election. He served as Deputy Government Whip from 1987–89, and Government Whip from September to December 1989. He briefly served in the shadow ministry under

Russell Cooper Theo Russell Cooper (born 4 February 1941) is a former Australian National Party of Australia – Queensland, National Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland for a period of 73 days, from 25 September 1989 to 7 December 1989. His loss ...

and

Rob Borbidge Robert Edward Borbidge (born 12 August 1954) is a former Australian politician who served as the 35th Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party, and was the last member of that p ...

in the early 1990s, serving as Opposition Spokesman on Regional Development and Forestry from 1990–91, and Opposition Spokesman on Forestry and Administrative Services from 1991–92, but had returned to the backbench by the National Party's 1995 election victory. Stephan won his closest re-election in many years in 1998 against a One Nation candidate; he retired at the 2001 state election, at which the National Party lost Gympie to One Nation's Elisa Roberts.

References

1935 births 2012 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland People from Brisbane Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-politician-stub