Peter Donald Styles (born 8 July 1953) is an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

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 f ...

from 2008 to 2016, representing the electorate of Sanderson. Born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia, Styles owned and operated a multi-purpose ship and worked as a public servant for the state government, before joining

Western Australia Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

. In 1981, he moved to Darwin and transferred to the

Northern Territory Police The Northern Territory Police Force is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1,537 police members (as at 31 July 2019) made up of 79 senior sergeants, 228 sergeants, 839 con ...

where he served for 27 years. In 1991, he was awarded the National Medal, and was upgraded to 1st clasp in 2001. In 2008, he ran for parliament and was elected to the seat of Sanderson.Biography: Peter Styles
, NT Government. He first served in the new CLP government as the Government Whip and Parliamentary Secretary assisting the Chief Minister with Multicultural Affairs, Young Territorians and Senior Territorians. He was later appointed to cabinet as Minister for Business; Racing, Gaming and Licensing; Asian Engagement and Trade; Employment and Training; Corporate and Information Services; Multicultural Affairs; Young Territorians; Senior Territorians; and Defence Industries. In February 2016, he was also voted deputy leader of the Country Liberals and became

Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory The deputy chief minister of the Northern Territory is a role in the Government of the Northern Territory assigned to a responsible Minister in the Northern Territory. It has second ranking behind the chief minister of the Northern Territory in ...

following the resignation from cabinet of

Willem Westra van Holthe Willem Rudolf Westra van Holthe (born 22 August 1962) is an Australian politician. He was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2008 to 2016, representing the electorate of Katherine. He was Deputy Ch ...

. Peter announced his support for

voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...

in 2010, citing his experience watching his wife Rhonda die from a terminal illness in 1989. In April 2022, Styles and his wife left the Country Liberal Party, citing "concerns over the future direction of the party".

References

1953 births Living people Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Deputy Chief Ministers of the Northern Territory Charles Darwin University alumni Australian police officers 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-politician-stub