Brian Joseph Langton (24 January 1948 – 17 October 2023) was an Australian Labor Party politician, who served both as mayor of Kogarah in the St George area of Sydney and as the member for Kogarah in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In 1998 Langton was found by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to have been involved in corruption, having deceptively lodged travel allowances.[1][2]

Brian Langton
Minister for Transport
In office
4 April 1995 – 1 Dececmber 1997
PremierBob Carr
Preceded byBruce Baird
Succeeded byCarl Scully
Minister for Tourism
In office
4 April 1995 – 1 December 1997
PremierBob Carr
Preceded byVirginia Chadwick
Succeeded byBob Debus
Minister for Fair Trading
In office
1 December 1997 – 30 April 1998
PremierBob Carr
Preceded byFaye Lo Po'
Succeeded byJeff Shaw
Minister for Emergency Services
In office
1 December 1997 – 30 April 1998
PremierBob Carr
Preceded byBob Debus
Succeeded byBob Debus
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for Kogarah
In office
22 October 1983 – 5 March 1999
Preceded byBill Crabtree
Succeeded byCherie Burton
Mayor of Kogarah
In office
1979–1980
Alderman of Kogarah
In office
1971–1983
Personal details
Born(1948-01-24)24 January 1948
Maroubra, New South Wales
Died17 October 2023(2023-10-17) (aged 75)
Political partyLabor
Spouse
Elizabeth Michalak
(m. 1976)

Early years

edit

Brian Joseph Langton was born in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra on 24 January 1948. Prior to Parliament, he went to school at Marist Brothers, Kogarah and was an investment banker and manager of a travel company. He showed an early interest in politics, being elected to Kogarah Council in 1971 at the age of just 23. He served on the council for twelve years and was elected mayor in 1979 and 1980.

Political career

edit

In 1983, Langton was elected to the New South Wales Parliament as a Labor Party member for Kogarah and served continuously in that role for sixteen years. When Labor formed a government in 1995, Brian Langton was appointed a minister, looking after the portfolios of Transport and Tourism from April 1995 to December 1997 and then Fair Trading and Emergency Services in December 1997.[3]

In April 1998, Langton relinquished his ministerial duties due to his involvement in a political scandal, after the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) found him guilty of corruptly rorting charter plane expenses. The ICAC deemed that Langton had sought advantage for himself by deliberate deception of the Parliamentary Accounts Department.[1][2] Langton stepped down at the 1999 state election, and left politics with a $90,000 indexed entitlement.[4]

In May 2008, the New South Wales Transport Minister, John Watkins, appointed Langton to the position of Chairman of Sydney Ferries.[1]

Personal life and death

edit

Langton was married with three daughters.[3]

Brian Langton died on 17 October 2023.[5] He was 75.[6][7]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Besser, Linton (19 May 2008). "Disgraced minister takes the helm". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Annual Report". Independent Commission Against Corruption. 1999. p. 41. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b "The Hon. Brian Joseph Langton (1948- )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  4. ^ Akerman, Piers (16 November 2006). "Facing down the bully boys". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  5. ^ "The Hon. Brian Joseph Langton Death Notice". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  6. ^ Former mayor and long-serving Kogarah MP Brian Langton dies at 75
  7. ^ "Longtime Labor heavyweight dies aged 75". PerthNow. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Kogarah
1983–1999
Succeeded by