John Tingle


John Saxon Tingle is a former Australian politician, journalist and broadcaster. He was the founder of the Shooters Party in New South Wales, and served on the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1995 to 2006.

Early life

Born in Edgecliff, New South Wales, he attended Sydney Boys High School from 1944 to 1949. He was a broadcaster and news editor at Deniliquin from 1949 to 1951 before becoming a journalist for the ABC from 1951 to 1968. During that time he was Supervisor of ABCTV News and Chief of Staff of the ABC News Service, among other positions. He switched to commercial radio in 1969 and presented current affairs programmes on stations including 2UE, 2UW, Radio Australia, 2SM, 3AW in Melbourne and 4BK in Brisbane before returning to Sydney to 2SM ; he then worked at 2GB and 2CH. During his radio career he also presented TV programmes on Channels 7 and 9 in Sydney, ABCTV Queensland/Northern Territory, WIN4 Wollongong and SBS. His 1982 radio documentary on the Polish background of Pope John Paul II won a UN Media Peace Prize. He founded the Shooters Party, in 1992 and was its Vice-Chairman until late 2013 when he resigned from the party. In 2019 he rejoined and was reinstated as Patron and Founder.

Political career

Despite being the founder of the Shooters Party, Tingle at one time denied a claim made by a journalist he was leader of the party.
In 1995 Tingle was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council as a Shooters Party member, serving for eleven years until his resignation in 2006. During that time he initiated seven successful bills, served on the Staysafe Committee for 11 years and the Ministerial Advisory Council on Shooting Clubs for 10 years. In 2007 he was appointed to the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

Personal life

He has three children. His daughter Laura Tingle is a political journalist, in Canberra, chief political correspondent of the ABC 7.30 programme''.