Peter Wellington

Peter William Wellington (21 August 1957—) is a retired Australian politician. 

Born in Belli Park, on the Sunshine Coast, New South Wales, Wellington was educated at Queensland University of Technology. He served as a police officer and solicitor before entering politics ("Profile of Nicklin Candidates", 2001). Elected to parliament in 1998 as an Independent representing the electorate of Nicklin, Wellington immediately found himself as kingmaker in a hung parliament; he chose to back Labor (Newman, 1998), and did so again in another hung parliament 17 years later (Remeikis, 2015). 

Wellington was instrumental in introducing legislation that protected Queensland doctors from prosecution in the event palliative medication prescribed to end-of-life patients hastened death. He also worked with Marshall Perron to pursue voluntary assisted euthanasia reform, and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the matter - as Speaker, he felt it was inappropriate to table a private member's bill (Hoffman, 2016). However, the parliamentary health committee declined (Zhou, 2017).

Wellington retired from politics in 2017 to farm alongside his elderly parents in Belli Park (Atkinson, 2017). 

Atkinson, B. (2017, 22 November). Queensland independent Peter Wellington set to leave politics after 19 years. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-22/peter-wellington-retires-from-qld-politics-after-19-years/9176924

Hoffman, B. (2016, September 19.) Qld Speaker wants 'Dying With Dignity' inquiry. The Courier Mail. https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/qld-speaker-wants-dying-with-dignity-inquiry/news-story/dbbec58a0147c31eb9ef70b44f91b8aa

Newman, G. (1998). 1998 Queensland Election [archived form the original]. Current Issues 98-99 (2). Parliament of Australia. https://web.archive.org/web/20110810104042/http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/Pubs/cib/1998-99/99cib02.htm

Profile of Nicklin Candidates - Independent: Peter Wellington [archived from the original]. (2001, February 6). Sunshine Valley News. https://web.archive.org/web/20070910040605/http://suncoast.com.au/SVNews/01-02-06/p5a.html

Remeikis, A. (2015, February 5). Queensland Election: Peter Wellington supports Labor to govern. Brisbane Times. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-election-peter-wellington-supports-labor-to-govern-20150205-136plf.html

Zhou, R. (2017, May 17). Assisted dying: states rally as bills offer chance to legalise voluntary euthanasia. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/17/assisted-dying-states-rally-as-bills-offer-chance-to-legalise-voluntary-euthanasia