Syd Negus

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 Justice 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. He later contested the 1975 Bass by-election as an independent and, at the 1980 federal election, was a candidate for the far-right, anti-immigration Progressive Conservative Party.