For the 18th century British politician, see John Stanhope. Jonathon Donald Stanhope (born 29 April, 1951) is the current Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, representing the Australian Labor Party.

Stanhope was born in Gundagai, New South Wales but moved to Canberra to study at the Australian National University. After graduating in law, he became a legal officer for the public service and a staffer for a number of senior ALP figures, including former federal leader Kim Beazley.

In 1998 Stanhope was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly and immediately became party leader. Stanhope played a major role in the downfall of Kate Carnell's Liberal government, concentrating heavily on her involvement in the Bruce Stadium affair.

Stanhope was elected ACT Chief Minister in 2001 when Labor won 8 of the 17 seats in the Assembly but failed to win a ninth, which would have secured a majority government for the first time in ACT history.

Canberra was hit by bushfires in January 2003. Four people died and 500 houses were destroyed. Stanhope had made headlines in the week before the bushfires hit Canberra when he personally jumped from a helicopter into a dam to save the pilot of another helicopter which had crashed into the water. Stanhope was lauded from some sectors of the community for his support of those involved in managing the bushfire . Some sectors of the community questioned whether Emergency Services had given reasonable and adequate warning of the fire and done all that could have been done to prepare for the fire . Stanhope faced a no-confidence motion in the Assembly from the Liberal opposition, which if passed meant he would have been forced to resign as Chief Minister. Instead, the motion was downgraded to a censure motion by the combined vote of the ALP and the Democrats and passed in the Assembly. The coronial inquest into the bushfire was released in mid-December 2006, and found significant bureaucratic failings contributed to the devastation, although it also claimed shortcomings at a political level. blank">http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/ACT-govt-admits-failure-in-fire-warnings/2006/12/20/1166290581913.html In February 2007 Stanhope faced another no-confidence motion from the Liberal opposition which was again defeated in the Assembly, this time with the support of the Greens. The debate provided him with the opportunity to correct some of the inaccurate assumptions in the coroner's report concerning the warning he had received and given and the coroner's misunderstanding of the Westminster system of government and of the ministerial arrangements in the ACT (Hansard, 28 February 2007, page 14).http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/2007/links/download.htm

The ACT was the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce a Human Rights Act, in 2004. Opponents predicted the Act would cause a flood of litigation, or transfer power away from the ACT Legislative Assembly. These predictions have not eventuated. The Act's main influence has been on policy development, ensuring legislative changes comply with the requirements of the Act.

At the 2004 ACT election, the Stanhope-led ALP won sufficient seats to form a majority government, the first such government in the Territory's history.

On 14 October, _2005, Stanhope took the controversial step of publishing the confidential draft of the Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 on his website new.asp?title=What's%20New" target="_blank">http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/whats_new.asp?title=What's%20New, so that the community had a chance to consider and debate the proposed legislation. This action was both praised and vilified. Citing concerns about the removal of basic human rights, he later refused to sign a revised version of the legislation, becoming the only state or territory leader to do so.

In June 2006 Stanhope came under fire over the 2006-07 ACT Budget which was crafted to address ongoing budget deficits. The budget included massive rate rises, across the board fee hikes, a change in the ACT's emergency services management and the proposed closure of 38 schools and colleges through consolidation. On 13 December 2006 after a six-month consultation period Stanhope's Education Minister Andrew Barr announced that 23 schools with declining enrollments or poor educational outcomes would close. He also announced that a further three new schools would open at some stage in the future, with one, a new $54 million P-10 school, to be built on the site of the current Kambah High School. On 10 March 2007 he announced that planning and development of a new Gungahlin College and a new West Belconnen P-10 school was underway, with construction about to begin. http://www.maryporter.net/node/905

The ratings agency Standard & Poor's reaffirmed, although with some qualification, the ACT's AAA credit rating in the wake of the Budget. However, the decision regarding distribution of the education budget prompted outcry in one Australian newspaper, with the Sydney-based _Daily Telegraph labelling him "Stanhope-less" and an "economic vandal" on the front page of a special ACT edition.

Soon after the budget the ACT's Civil Unions Act, to allow formal recognition of same-sex relationships blank">http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.asp?media=927&id=927§ion=24&title=Jon%20Stanhope,%20MLA, was overturned by the Federal Liberal/National _Howard government despite the objections of the ACT Government and its federal senators. blank">http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1664191.htm. The new Rudd Labor government has advised it is not Labor policy to stifle state legislation, and as such will not block attempts by the ACT government on this issue.

On November 26, 2007, following the resignation of the _Northern Territory's Clare Martin, Stanhope became Australia's longest-serving state or territory leader. When Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on December 3, 2007, replacing John Howard, Stanhope became the country's longest-serving head of government.