A worker leaves the new terminal two wing at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi
A worker leaves the new terminal two wing at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi December 20, 2014. Vietnam has started operating the new $900 million airport terminal that will nearly double the capital's flight capacity, the latest move in expanding what is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets. Photo taken on December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Kham

Former Queensland Labor leader Keith Wright has passed away. The convicted paedophile, 72, ran a language academy in Vietnam in Vietnam where he died overnight.

Wright was sentenced eight years of imprisonment in 1993 after he had been convicted of child rape and indecent dealing. Around a decade before that in 1983, he came extremely close to becoming premier by defeating Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. He broke his silence on the issue of his conviction in 2009. After keeping quiet for 16 years, he publicly apologised for what he had done to the little girls. He called himself "stupid" and said that he had "blown" it. "I profoundly regret it all," the Courier-Mail quotes Wright, "I am so sorry." Wright was a former teacher and Baptist preacher. Wright became head of the party in the early 1980s. He was within 3,000 votes of defeating Bjelke-Petersen in 1983. Later, he transferred to federal politics in 1984 as the Labor MP for Capricornia.

Annastacia Palaszczuk, the Queensland Labor leader, expressed her condolences to Wright's family. According to former state Labor minister Robert Schwarten, Wright was a brilliant orator even though he had major flaws. Schwarten, who held the seat of Rockhampton as well, said that Wright had been a "very hard worker" and deliver for his electorate. ABC News quotes Schwarten saying that he did not part friends with Wright. Schwarten also said that the deceased politician had helped many people. However, Wright's personal flaws and personal failings were such that those would obliterate any really good memory which people had of him, Schwarten said. Schwarten added that Wright was a "tireless worker in politics." He was a very hard worker in terms of working for his community even though his personal life was another story, Schwarten said. Schwarten also talked about his issues with Wright's behaviour as a federal member as he was one of those who had pushed for Wright's expulsion from the ALP.

Wright moved to Asia with his new wife when he was granted parole in 1999. According to reports, he has established "International Language Academy" which offers Certificate IV Teaching English To Speakers Of Other Languages (TESOL) as a blended personal contact and online course. According to its official website, it offers self-paced learning, virtual classroom system and advanced assessment system.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au