Charles Rappolt, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetCharles Rappolt
Australian politician
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Cairns, Queensland, Australia
About Charles Rappolt
- Charles Robert "Charlie" Rappolt (23 August 1939 – 2 August 1999) was an Australian politician.
- A member of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, Rappolt spent five turbulent months in the Parliament of Queensland in 1998.A native of Cairns, Rappolt held a variety of jobs before he entered politics.
- He served in the Citizens' Military Force from 1957 until 1961.
- In 1961 he began working as an agent for his brother, described by One Nation leader Bill Feldman as a musician "of some renown".
- From 1974 to 1978 he ran his own building company, and was a licensed environmental auditor in Queensland and Victoria.
- During his time as an environmental auditor, Rappolt became interested in mining, and he soon became a mine manager, prospector and financier.
- He was also a commercial pilot, flying aeroplanes and helicopters for a time.
- Another interest of Rappolt's was soccer, and he volunteered as a coach and referee at junior level. On 13 June 1998, Rappolt was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, running on the One Nation ticket for the Cairns-area seat of Mulgrave.
- His parliamentary career lasted a little over four months, and he suffered constant media attacks after the revelation that his partner, Sandra Higgins, had taken out a domestic violence order against him.
- On 4 November, Rappolt resigned, citing the combined pressures of political life, ill health, and the Queensland press.
- The resulting by-election was won by Labor candidate Warren Pitt, who had earlier held the then-marginal seat from 1989 until 1995.
- Pitt's victory gave Labor a majority in its own right; indeed, Mulgrave was one of seven seats that would have gone to Labor in the 1998 election if not for leakage of Coalition preferences. Less than a week after his resignation, Rappolt attempted suicide and was hospitalised with severe depression.
- After his recovery he sought A$295 000 in damages from the Queensland government, arguing that his stint in Parliament had left him a psychotic manic depressive.
- He moved to New Zealand in 1999, in an attempt to flee the pressure of public life in Queensland.
- He was found dead in his home in Auckland, on 2 August 1999, apparently after having hanged himself.
- At a condolence motion in the Queensland Assembly, One Nation leader Bill Feldman launched a blistering attack on the Courier Mail, claiming that the newspaper was responsible for Rappolt's suicide attempts. Rappolt was survived by his partner Sandra Higgins, and three children.
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