Paul Henderson

Who is Paul Henderson?

Paul Raymond Henderson is a former Australian politician who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 2007 to 2012.

Henderson was born in Croix-Chapeau, France, where his father was serving with the United States military. He was educated in the United Kingdom to A-Levels and studied mechanical engineering through the City and Guilds of London Institute. He worked as an apprentice marine fitter in Southampton before emigrating to Australia in 1982, where he worked as an underground fitter at the zinc mines in Rosebery, Tasmania. He moved to Darwin in the Northern Territory in 1983, working as a marine fitter. In 1985 he began working for the Northern Territory government as a computer operator, was self-employed as a computer analyst in Britain from 1991 to 1992 and returned to work for the Northern Territory government in 1993.

Henderson was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in an August 1999 by-election for the Australian Labor Party, representing the electorate of Wanguri when the previous member, John Bailey, resigned.

He held the following ministries: Minister for Employment, Education and Training; Minister for Tourism; Minister for Public Employment; and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, until he became Chief Minister of the Northern Territory after the sudden resignation of Clare Martin on 26 November 2007. He became the first man to lead an ALP Government in the Territory.