John White

Who is John White?

John Charles White was a Tasmanian Labor politician during the years 1986 to 1999. He is the son of Alfred White.

White was first elected as a member for Denison in 1986. He held the position of Health Minister during 1989-1992. During 1992-1998 he was Shadow minister for Arts, Justice, Environment and Aboriginal Affairs. In August 1998 he resigned from his Lower house seat to contest the Upper house seat of Newdegate. He was successful and took the position in September 1998.

White was embarrassed in 1993 when he was exposed for calling ABC Radio under the name "Bill Fraser" and claiming to be from Queenstown. The radio announcer recognised his voice and despite denying his true identity when questioned on air, he apologised later to Parliament.

In June 1999 White's Upper house seat of Newdegate was abolished when the size of parliament was reduced and he was forced to resign.

In early 2003 White and two others formed a company called Tasmanian Compliance Corporation. In August 2003 the company was awarded a Tasmanian Government contract to handle building accredition, complaints and training.

Following the 2006 state election, White came under significant public scrutiny after a confidential service level agreement, signed by White and the Minister Bryan Green which was being negotiated from November 2005, was leaked to The Mercury. The agreement was leaked by a former Director of the TCC who had previously been stood down for incompetency and then sacked for dishonesty. The agreement was intended to provide for the protection of intellectual property and enable the establishment of appropriate contingency arrangements in the event of either party wishing to withdraw. The intention of the SLA was to provide an exit strategy for either the Government or the TCC and should the Government give 3 years notice no compensation would be paid. However, if the notice was less than 3 years the TCC could claim up to $2.5 million in compensation depending upon the time of notice. On 25 October 2006 White was charged in court with conspiracy and attempting to interfere with an executive officer. The DPP tendered no evidence in relation to the charge of conspiracy as there was no conspiracy simply lobbing, which is the right of every individual. It was at this point that the DPP should have withdrawn both charges, and not just the conspiracy. After initially pleading not guilty, the Chief Justice ruled that the signing of the document was the offence, and did not require any mala fides. White then changed his plea to guilty, on legal advice, in the Supreme Court on 20 November 2007. On 10 December 2007 he was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond and had no conviction recorded.