Keith Wright (Australian politician)
Keith Webb Wright was an Australian politician, educator and convicted child rapist.Biography
Born in Toowoomba, Queensland, he was educated at the University of Queensland and Kelvin Grove Teachers College in Brisbane before becoming a Rockhampton teacher and Baptist preacher.
On 17 May 1969, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the Labor member for Rockhampton South and after a seat redistribution, represented Rockhampton. In 1982, he became Leader of the Opposition. Wright remained opposition leader until he left the Assembly in 1984, transferring to federal politics as the Labor MP for Capricornia in the Australian House of Representatives.
In 1993, he was charged with indecently dealing and child rape, and as a result lost his Labor endorsement. He contested the 1993 election as an independent, gaining 5.9% of the vote but losing to endorsed ALP candidate Marjorie Henzell. In December 1993 he was convicted and jailed for nine years for raping and indecently dealing with two young girls.
After leaving jail, Wright moved to Vietnam and ran a company, International Language Academy Australia, which trains TESOL teachers in Southeast Asia.
Wright died in Vietnam on 13 January 2015, aged 73.
