Deborah Acason

Deborah Esther Ainslie Acason (née Lovely, born 20 June 1983) is an Australian weightlifter. Initially a discus thrower (she won a bronze medal at the 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics), she won three silver medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She also participated in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games. She also won awards in cycling, winning the 2005 Queensland open Keirin title, as well as gold medals in the 1 Lap Time Trial and Team Sprint.

She married Joshua Acason in December 2008. They have two daughters.

She is Christian and a young earth creationist, and has been active in the Presbyterian church. She disagrees with evolution, stating that humans are able to lift more than apes. She cites the opinion of spine expert the late Richard Porter, formerly Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Aberdeen. "He pointed out that the curvature in our spine is the opposite of that of the apes (our supposed evolutionary ancestors) because the arch of our spine is perfectly designed to give us strength in an upright position, while apes go about on all fours."

In terms of her faith, she states "Without Jesus' love and forgiveness I know my life would be very different. I would have lived my life my way and made me the centre of everything and most likely made a mess of it all. I would not be married to my loving husband with two beautiful girls."

She found her love for weightlifting at the age of 12, lifting heavy logs to build tree houses with some of the neighbourhood boys.

Acason was an unsuccessful Family First Party candidate for Bundamba at the Queensland state election, 2012.

Acason has a double degree from Griffith University in Laws and Criminology and Criminal Justice, which she studied from 2002-2010.