| | Stott Despoja exit rocks Democrats | SA | The Australian (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11) |
 | | THE Australian Democrats' chances of surviving next year's federal election suffered a mortal blow yesterday when the party's former leader and highest-profile senator Natasha Stott Despoja declared she would not contest the poll for family reasons. |
 | | The 37-year-old senator - who entered parliament in November 1995 and took on the party leadership for 16 months in 2001 - said she had intended to nominate for another term until October 1, when she was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after an ectopic pregnancy. |
 | | On her retirement in June, 2008, she will be one of Australia's youngest parliamentary pensioners, qualifying for an indexed pension for life of nearly $67,000 a year, supplemented by further allowances for her 14 months as leader of the Democrats. |
| www.theaustralian.news.com.au /common/story_page/0,5744,20627895^5006787,00.html (754 words) |