Darwin: Jinson Anto Charles, a native of Kottayam, has secured a position in the newly formed ministry of Australia’s Northern Territory. Elected to the Northern Territory state parliament, he has been entrusted with the departments of Sports, Arts, Culture, and Youth Welfare. He is part of the eight-member ministry announced in the first phase.
Jinson has the distinction of being the first Indian to be elected as a minister in an Australian regional government. A native of Punnathaniel, Munnilavu, Kottayam, Jinson Anto Charles has been appointed as the Minister of the Northern Territory, handling the departments of Disability, Arts, and Culture. Jinson, the nephew of MP Anto Antony, contested and won under the Labor Party ticket. Arriving in Australia in 2011 for a nursing job, Jinson has served as the Director of Top End Mental Health for the Northern Territory Government and as a lecturer at Charles Darwin University. While Malayalis contested in other Australian states as well, Jinson Charles was the only one to win from the Northern Territory.
Jinson won from the Sanderson constituency in Australia’s Northern Territory. He is also the former president of the Darwin Malayali Association. His wife, Anupriya, a native of Chalakudy, works as a clinical consultant at Top End Mental Health in Darwin. They have two children, Amy Caitlyn Jinson and Anna Isabel Jinson. Jinson is the son of Charles Antony and Daisy Charles from Punnathaniel.
