Stanley Gabriel Tipiloura (2 September 1957 – 20 September 1992) was an Australian politician. He was the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Arafura in 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 1987 until his death in 1992.

Background and early career

Tipiloura was born on Bathurst Island. He attended primary school there, before studying for two years at St John's College, Darwin and two years at

Monivae College Monivae College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational high day and boarding school of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) tradition located in , Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. Set ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He worked for the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

in Darwin after leaving school, and was a successful amateur footballer with St Mary's Football Club; he also played a stint for

South Adelaide Football Club The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in the late 1970s. He returned to Bathurst Island in 1975, where he worked in various roles, including for the Nguiu Council, of which he would subsequently be elected president. He returned to Nguiu permanently in 1980, where served as a police aide and then officer at Nguiu from 1980 to 1985. At the time of his election to parliament, he was also the president of the newly elected local branch of the Labor Party.

Political career

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Arafura at the 1987 election, succeeding his brother-in-law and former Labor leader Bob Collins, who was contesting a seat in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

. Tipiloura's election made him, at the time, one of the parliament's only Aboriginal members. Upon his election, he was appointed shadow minister for local government, administrative services, libraries, conservation, museums, and police, fire and emergency services. In recognition of his accomplishments and career promise, in 1988 he was selected to travel to the United States with young political leaders from other countries to study the U.S. national elections in November of that year. Organized by the American Council of Young Political Leaders, Tipiloura was a vital member of the group that traveled the breadth of the State of Michigan studying both voters and political campaign methods. Just before election day, all groups traveled to Washington, D.C. for series of presentations from leaders such as U.S. National Security Advisor

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

, who would later become U.S. Secretary of State. Tipiloura maintained his international outreach, sending Christmas cards to his new colleagues in 1988. He contracted

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

shortly after his election, and spent some time on dialysis before his uncle donated a kidney in 1990. He was re-elected at the 1990 election from his hospital bed, and was made shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs after the election. However, the disease did not rescind and he died in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1992, aged 35. Tipiloura was the first serving member of the Northern Territory Parliament to die.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tipiloura, Stan 1957 births 1992 deaths Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Indigenous Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Deaths from kidney failure Tiwi Islands people