Syd Negus

Syd Negus
Senator for Western Australia
In office 1 July 1971 – 18 May 1974
Personal details
Born	(1912-03-12)12 March 1912 Leederville, Western Australia
Died	1 August 1986(1986-08-01) (aged 74)
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative (1980)
Occupation	carpenter, contractor

Sydney Ambrose Negus (12 March 1912 – 1 August 1986) was an Australian politician who was an independent senator for Western Australia from 1971 until 1974.^[1] He was previously a carpenter and building contractor.^[2]

Negus was president of the West Australian Sporting Car Club and competed in the Australian Grand Prix on several occasions.^[3]

Negus was elected largely on an anti-inheritance tax platform, following the death of his brother, Oscar Negus a judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which led to Syd Negus' realisation of the impost of the tax on widows.^[4] His campaign established a groundswell of public support and Queensland was the first state to abolish inheritance taxes in 1977; the Commonwealth of Australia and other states followed soon after by abolishing their respective inheritance and gift taxes.^[2]

Negus was defeated in the 1974 election.^[3] He later contested the 1975 Bass by-election as an independent^[5] and, at the 1980 federal election, was a candidate for the far-right, anti-immigration Progressive Conservative Party.^[6]

References

1. Parliamentary Handbook - Members of the Senate since 1901 Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
2. David G. Duff (2005). "The Abolition of Wealth Transfer Taxes: Lessons from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand". University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
3. Ferrell, John (2010). "NEGUS, Sydney Ambrose (1912–1986)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
4. "Review of Western Australian State Taxes 1994". Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law. December 2004. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
5. Carr, Adam. "1975 Bass by-election". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
6. Carr, Adam. "1980 Senate election: Western Australia". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 9 January 2023.