1.
South Australian House of Assembly
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The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council and it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. The fourth-term South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party has been in government since the 2002 election, the 47-seat house consists of 24 Labor,21 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock and Martin Hamilton-Smith. Following the 2014 election, the house consisted of 23 Labor,22 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock. Hamilton-Smith became an independent shortly after the election, reducing the Liberals to 21 seats, both Hamilton-Smith and fellow independent Geoff Brock are in cabinet and provide confidence and supply while retaining the right to vote on conscience. Labor went from minority to majority government when Nat Cook won the 2014 Fisher by-election which was triggered by the death of Bob Such, despite this, the Jay Weatherill Labor government kept crossbench MPs Brock and Hamilton-Smith in cabinet, giving the government a 26 to 21 parliamentary majority. As with the rest of the crossbench, Bedford will continue to provide confidence, the House of Assembly was created in 1857, when South Australia attained self-government. In 1895, the House of Assembly granted women the right to vote – the second place in the world to do so after New Zealand in 1893 – and the first to allow women to stand for election. The House of Assembly has had 47 members since the 1970 election, each coming from a single-member constituency and these are commonly known as seats, and are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by preferential voting with complete preference allocation, as with the equivalent federal chamber, all members face re-election approximately every four years. The most recent election was held on 15 March 2014, most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party becomes Premier of South Australia, as Australian MPs almost always vote along party lines, almost all legislation introduced by the governing party will pass through the House of Assembly. As with the parliament and Australian other states and territories. Voting in the House of Assembly had originally been voluntary, while South Australias total population is 1.7 million, Adelaides population is 1. At the 2014 election for example, although the state-wide two-party vote was 47. 0% Labor v 53. 0% Liberal,24 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation
2.
George Strickland Kingston
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Sir George Strickland Kingston arrived in South Australia on the Cygnet in 1836. He was the Deputy Surveyor to William Light, engaged to survey the new colony of South Australia, Kingston was also the first Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. Kingston was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, one of five children of George Kingston, stricklands father owned a lumberyard, a tenement, and was credited with being involved in the three canal plans for Bandon. Strickland emigrated to England and was employed in Birmingham in 1832 and he subsequently took an active part in promoting the South Australian Act in 1834 and helped to lobby successfully for its passage through the House of Commons. Kingston was appointed deputy surveyor general to the new colony and sailed with most of the party in the Cygnet in March 1836. However it was Kingston with John Morphett and Lieutenant W. G. Field who discovered the River Torrens, the balance of credit due to Kingston and to Light in surveying the city of Adelaide has often been discussed. Kingstons ability as a surveyor was frequently questioned and it was he who was spared to return to England in August 1837 to ask for reinforcements for the Survey Department, the colonisation commissioners sent him back next June with orders unpalatable to Light, who resigned with all his staff. Kingston proceeded with the country surveys almost single-handed but, soon after Governor George Gawlers arrival in October 1838, Kingston established himself as a civil engineer, architect and surveyor, and in 1840 the Adelaide Municipal Council briefly engaged him as town surveyor. He was later engaged as inspector of works and, buildings. Among his works still standing are the corner of Government House. He also designed the first monument to Colonel Light in Light Square and he designed Whites Rooms, Adelaides first public entertainment venue. On 10 July 1851, Kingston was sworn in as a member of South Australias first elected parliament, on 9 March 1857, Kingston was elected to the newly established House of Assembly and became the first Speaker on 22 April 1857. Kingston held this position until 22 March 1860 and again from 31 March 1865 until his death on 26 November 1880, Kingston represented The Burra and Clare from 9 March 1857 to 22 March 1860 and Stanley from 6 May 1861 until his death. Kingston was prominent in forming the South Australian Mining Association to keep the wealth of the colony from overseas speculators. With Edward Stephens, he investigated copper finds at Burra in 1845, an original shareholder, he was appointed surveyor and architect of the mining association and with William Jacob carried out the Burra special survey of 20,000 acres. In April 1848 he was elected a director, deputy-chairman in October 1856, in its first five years the monster mine paid fifteen dividends each of 200 per cent. In 1858 Kingston was part of the team who surveyed the town of Kingston. Kingston was interested in the Volunteer movement and was captain of the East Adelaide Rifles
3.
Parliament of South Australia
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The Parliament of South Australia at Parliament House, Adelaide is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly and the 22-seat Legislative Council, all of the lower house and half of the upper house is filled at each election. It follows a Westminster system of parliamentary government, the fourth-term South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party has been in government since the 2002 election. The Queen is represented in the State by the Governor of South Australia, however, the same role and powers are granted to them. The 47-seat lower house consists of 24 Labor,21 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock, following the 2014 election, the lower house consisted of 23 Labor,22 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock and Bob Such. Hamilton-Smith became an independent shortly after the election, reducing the Liberals to 21 seats, both Hamilton-Smith and fellow independent Geoff Brock are in cabinet and provide confidence and supply while retaining the right to vote on conscience. Labor went from minority to majority government when Nat Cook won the 2014 Fisher by-election which was triggered by the death of Bob Such, despite this, the Jay Weatherill Labor government kept crossbench MPs Brock and Hamilton-Smith in cabinet, giving the government a 26 to 21 parliamentary majority. As with the rest of the crossbench, Bedford will continue to provide confidence, the 22-seat upper house consists of eight Labor, eight Liberal, two Greens, two Family First, one Dignity for Disability and one Nick Xenophon Team MLCs. The Parliament of South Australia began in 1857, when the colony was granted self-government, women gained the right to vote and stand for election in 1895, taking effect at the 1896 election. South Australia became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 following a vote to Federate with the other British colonies of Australia, while smaller than the Eastern states, South Australia has often been at the vanguard of political and social change in Australia. The House of Assembly is made up of 47 members who are elected by the full-preference instant-runoff voting system in single-member electorates. The leader of the government becomes the Premier, while South Australias total population is 1.7 million, Adelaides population is 1. At the 2014 election for example, although the state-wide two-party vote was 47. 0% Labor v 53. 0% Liberal, the metropolitan area recorded a 2PP of 51. 5% Labor v 48. 5% Liberal. The Legislative Council is made up of 22 councillors who are elected for the state by the single transferable voting system to serve for a term of 8 years. Elections for the Legislative Council are staggered so that 11 seats are up for re-election every 4 years, the primary function of the Legislative Council is to review legislation which has been passed by the House of Assembly. The seat of the Parliament of South Australia is Parliament House in the capital of Adelaide. Parliament House sits on the North-Western corner of the intersection of King William Street, list of elections in South Australia Parliaments of the Australian states and territories Official openings by the monarch in Australia Parliament of South Australia Homepage
4.
Speaker (politics)
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The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer. The title was first used in 1399 in England, the speakers official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial, the title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England. By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, if a man, or Madam Speaker, in other cultures other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English chairman or president. Many bodies also have a pro tempore, designated to fill in when the speaker is not available. The Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives is the officer of the Australian House of Representatives. The President of the Australian Senate is the officer of the Australian Senate. Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role, in Canada, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected lower house. The speaker is a Member of Parliament and is elected at the beginning of new parliament by fellow MPs. The Speakers role in presiding over Canadas House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in countries that use the Westminster system. The Speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie, by convention, if required to vote, the Speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved. The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the officer of the Senate of Canada. The Speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of procedure and parliamentary privilege. The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the Governor General of Canada from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails, at the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the Speaker in all provinces except Quebec, where the term President is used. The presiding officer fulfills the role as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the elected to preside over the elected House of Commons
5.
George Charles Hawker
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George Charles Hawker was an Australian settler and South Australian politician. Hawker was born in London, the son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi. He was educated partly on the continent, and he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, together with his brother Charles, Hawker went to South Australia in 1840 travelling aboard the Lysander. He had two brothers with him at first and all three soon adapted themselves to conditions, some of the early station buildings in fact were put up with their own hands. In 1841 they were members of a party of 10 that went out to reclaim a large number of sheep that had fallen into the hands of the aborigines. The aborigines heavily outnumbered them and they were fortunate in escaping with the loss of one horse with one member of their party wounded, Hawker eventually bought out his brothers and extended his land until he had some 80,000 acres. Much attention was paid to the breeding of his sheep, in 1851 Hawker was a candidate for Stanley in the South Australian Legislative Council, but was defeated. He was successful in this position carrying out its duties with tact and dignity and he retired from parliament in 1865, went to England with his family, and did not return until 1874. He again entered parliament and, except for a few months, was a member until his death and he was twice asked to form a ministry and declined on each occasion, but several times held office. He was Treasurer of South Australia in the third Arthur Blyth ministry for a few days in 1875 and he was commissioner of public works in the third Boucaut ministry from October 1877 to September 1878, and held the same position in the William Morgan ministry until June 1881. In 1889 he visited India to inquire into the irrigation question and he died on 21 May 1895 in Medindie, if he had lived a few days longer he would have been created K. C. M. G. His widows appeal for an award was approved by the Queen in September 1895. Hawker held a position as a citizen of South Australia. He was much respected in parliament through his career of 26 years. In his earlier days Hawker was an excellent speaker who rose to eloquence, as an old man he contented himself with short speeches. He showed distinct administrative ability during his term as commissioner of public works, on 16 December 1845, George married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Seymour, pastoralist at Naracoorte. Known as Bessie, her younger sister Jane married in 1856 to pastoralist, having survived her husband, Bessie was granted the rank of the widow of a knight. Lady Hawker died in June 1901 and they had six sons and six daughters
6.
John Cox Bray
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Sir John Cox Bray KCMG JP was a prominent South Australian politician and the first native-born Premier of South Australia. Born in East Adelaide, South Australia, Bray was the second of four sons of immigrants to the new colony. His father, Tom Cox Bray, was a native of Portsmouth, Hampshire, the couple were married at St Marys parish church, Portsea, Hampshire, on 22 July 1838, just prior to their embarkation for Australia in the Prince George. In the early years in Adelaide, T. C, educated at St Peters College, Adelaide and in England, Bray read law in South Australia, and was called to the South Australian Bar in November 1870. Meanwhile, his parents, elder brother and sisters returned to England, once in England, the family lived in comfort first at Blackheath in Kent, and later at Harrogate, the Yorkshire spa town in which Mrs Bray died. The elder son, Thomas William Bray, was sent to Clare College, Cambridge and he was father of Sir Denys Bray, K. C. S. I. C. B. E. sometime Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Bray lived the rest of his life as a gentleman, moving to Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire in Scotland, where he had descendants in the mid-1980s. He died in Scotland and his will was proved in Scotland, descendants include Sir John Henry Kerr, colonial governor in India, David Russell, classical guitarist, and Piers Sellers, astronaut. Bray served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in the 3rd Blyth ministry and he served as Leader of the Opposition to the Morgan ministry, and Premier and Chief Secretary of the Province of South Australia, and Premier and Treasurer of South Australia. At the time, he was the premier of the colony. He visited England and the United States from 1884 to 1885, returning to serve as Chief Secretary of South Australia and he was acting Premier during Downers absence in England until June 1887. Due to his popularity, Bray was elected Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly and he was Chief Secretary in the 2nd Playford ministry, when he left politics, sparking the East Adelaide by-election, which saw the first Labor MP elected in South Australian history. Bray attended the Sydney Intercolonial Conference in 1883, and was one of seven South Australian representatives at the first Federal Convention at Sydney in 1891, Bray was appointed Agent General for South Australia in London, resigning early because of ill health. On 13 June 1894, he died at sea between Aden and Colombo aboard the Oceana en route for South Australia and his obituary appeared in The Times of 19 June 1894. Bray was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and his wife, Alice Maude née Hornabrook, Lady Bray, survived him until 1935. They had three sons and one daughter, brays descendants continue to include people prominent in Australian politics and the Australian judiciary. Bray was the first native-born South Australian to serve as premier, speaker, J. J. Bray, Bray, Sir John Cox, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, MUP,1969, pp 220–221
7.
Jenkin Coles
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Sir Jenkin Coles KCMG was a South Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1875 to 1878 and 1881 to 1911, representing the electorates of Light and he was Leader of the Opposition from 1886 to 1887 and later served as Speaker of the House of Assembly from 1890 to 1911. Coles was the son of Jenkin and Caroline Coles, came of an old north of Ireland family, when he was seven years old his family returned to Europe, and he was educated at Christs Hospital School, London. Coles parents came to Australia again in 1858 and settled at Adelaide, Coles obtained a position as a junior clerk with the Murray River Navigation office, but gave this up to become assistant dispenser and receiver of stores at the Adelaide hospital for three years. He then joined the police and served for three years in the country. On leaving this service he became an auctioneer and stock salesman, the business prospered so much that Coles was able to practically retire from it before he was 40. In 1881 he was elected for Light, afterwards merged into Wooroora and he was commissioner of crown lands again in the Thomas Playford II ministry from June 1887 to June 1889. He married in 1865 Ellen Henrietta Briggs, who survived him four sons. Two of his sons founded the auctioneering firm Coles Brothers of Kapunda and he was created K. C. M. G. in 1894. Coles was speaker for over 21 years, a record in Australia and he had a great knowledge of the standing orders and was firm, tactful, alert and wise. Suzanne Edgar, Coles, Sir Jenkin, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, MUP,1981, pp 66–67
8.
Richard Butler (Australian politician)
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Sir Richard Butler was an Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1890 to 1924, representing Yatala and he served as Premier of South Australia from March to July 1905 and Leader of the Opposition from 1905 to 1909. Butler would also serve as Speaker of the House of Assembly. His son, Richard Layton Butler, went on to serve as Premier from 1927 to 1930 and 1933 to 1938, Richard Butler was born at Stadhampton, near Oxford, England, elder son of Richard Butler, père and his wife Mary Eliza, née Sadler. Richard père took over management of Mallala and the family lived at Yattalunga until around 1870. Young Richard was educated at St Peters College, Adelaide, then spent many years as a farmer and grazier and he was a Justice of the Peace before he was 30. Butler attempted to enter parliament early in 1890 when he stood for Yatala but was defeated, a few months later he won the seat at a by-election caused by the death of one of the seats sitting members, James Cowan. On 13 April 1898 he succeeded Cockburn as minister of agriculture in the Kingston ministry which resigned in December 1899, Yatala was abolished in 1902 and Butler represented Barossa from 3 May 1902 to 4 April 1924. Butler became the leader of an informal group of country members supported by the Farmers and Producers Political Union in 1904. Butler was Treasurer of South Australia in the Jenkins ministry from 15 May 1901 to 1 March 1905, Jenkins then went to London as Agent-General. Butler succeeded him as Premier, still keeping his previous portfolios, the Liberal and Democratic Union insisted on taking the premiership. On 22 December 1909 Butler joined the first Peake LDU ministry as Treasurer and Minister for the Northern Territory, the Peake government was defeated at the 1915 election, however Labor split over conscription in 1917 which brought down the government. Butler was Treasurer once again and Minister of Railways in Peakes third ministry from 14 July 1917 to 7 May 1919, Butler left the ministry in controversial circumstances. The report of the Royal Commission on the Wheat Scheme appeared to reflect on the actions of Butler while he was the minister in charge of it and he refused to do so because he considered that that would admit the justice of the charges. The Executive Council, on the advice of the government, thereupon dismissed Butler from his offices, Butler was defeated in his seat at the 1924 election after having represented the same district area for 34 years. At the beginning of 1925 Butler went on a trip to England, Butler was made a knight bachelor in 1913. He had married Helena Kate Layton in 1878 and Ethel Pauline Finer in 1894 and he had eight children by his first marriage and three by his second. Butlers son, Richard Layton Butler, was premier of South Australia
9.
Liberal and Country League
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The Liberal and Country League was the major conservative party in South Australia from 1932 to 1974. This arrangement was retained even as Adelaide, the state capital, additionally, with a decisive advantage to the LCL, swing voters may have been more likely to vote for the expected status quo LCL government. It was succeeded by the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in 1974, traditionally a socially conservative party, the LCL contained three relatively distinct factions whose ideologies often conflicted, Farmers, graziers and rural property owners. The Adelaide Establishment of old families and those fortunate enough, through marriage. The urban middle class, who continued to support the party although they had little say in its running, indeed, it was not until the election of Robin Millhouse in 1955 that someone from this third faction was elected to parliament. Richard Layton Butler who served as Premier of South Australia until shortly after the 1938 election, sir Thomas Playford who served as Premier from 5 November until his electoral defeat at the 1965 election nearly 27 years later. Steele Hall who succeeded Playford as leader of the LCL following Playfords 1966 resignation as party leader, bruce Eastick who succeeded Hall as leader of the LCL following Halls 1972 resignation as party leader. It was Playford that the LCL would become synonymous with over his 26 years and 125 days as Premier, the LCL became so strongly identified with Playford that during election campaigns, voters were asked to vote for The Playford Liberal and Country League. Playford gave the impression that the LCL membership were there solely to raise money and run election campaigns and this treatment of rank and file party members continued to cause resentment throughout the party, the first public inkling of which was the reformation of a separate Country Party in 1963. Although a shadow of its former self, the reformed Country Party served as a call to Playford that there were problems within the LCL. The LCL was thus caught unawares in the early 1960s, when Labor eschewed a statewide campaign in favour of targeting marginal LCL seats. Due to these factors, the LCLs grip on power began to slip in the 1950s, due to its paper-thin base in the capital, the LCL never held more than 23 seats at any time during Playfords tenure. Under Frank Walsh, Labor won a decisive 54.3 percent of the two-party preferred vote, however, due to the Playmander, Labor only picked up a two-seat swing, leaving it one short of a majority. The two independents threw their support to the LCL, allowing Playford to remain in office, the LCL lost government for the first time at the 1965 election. Despite winning the same two-party vote as it had three earlier, the Playmander was strong enough that Labor was only able to win government by two seats. Playford resigned as party leader in 1966 and was succeeded by Steele Hall, at the 1968 election, Labor won a 53.2 percent two-party vote, but suffered a two-seat swing, resulting in a hung parliament. The lone independent in the chamber, Tom Stott, threw his support to the LCL, Hall was embarrassed that his party was in a position to win power despite having clearly lost the vote. Concerned by the level of publicity and public protest about the issue, Hall reduced the rural weighting, the reforms fell short of one vote one value, as Labor had demanded, since rural areas were still overrepresented
10.
Tom Stott
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Stott showed great interest in the problems facing his fellow wheat farmers and joined the newly formed Country Party in 1920. He was also appointed General Secretary of each of these organisations and he opposed the move, fearing both that the rural prerogative of the Country Party would be diminished and that his preselection may become more difficult. His fears were realised when he lost LCL pre-selection, Stott promptly resigned from the party to run as an independent. Stott was given little chance of winning, upon his election in 1933, Stott was forced to resign from his Secretariat position with SAWPA but retained his role with the AWF. He also helped found the Primary Producers Council of Australia in 1934 and this influence within these important primary industry bodies allowed Stott to build a power base for himself that assisted with his continued re-election over the next three decades. This success led the government to approach Stott to introduce other controversial social issue legislation that the LCL supported, the public recognised this and many people who approached Stott for assistance were not in his electorate. Stott was comfortably re-elected at the 1938 South Australian election in the newly formed Electoral district of Ridley and he was one of 14 independents in the chamber. The independents as a grouping won 40 percent of the primary vote, Stott was the de facto leader of the independent caucus within parliament. The incumbent LCL government only held 15 of 39 seats, which led to uncertainty over which party, if any and this confusion led Stott, as the most experienced and well known of the Independent MPs, to believe that he could become Premier of South Australia. Following the 1941 election, Premier Tom Playford approached Stott about joining the LCL, while Stott refused, he remained a fervent admirer of Playford and publicly praised the Premier wherever possible. In return, Playford pressured the LCL into not standing a candidate against Stott for successive elections, when the local LCL branch finally refused Playfords request, he apologised profusely to Stott and did little to support the candidate of his own party. Stotts continued electoral success can not purely be credited to his influence within bodies like the AWF, Stott was also heavily involved with the wine and citrus industries and helped get producers in both industries significant government concessions. He was renowned for his knowledge of any issue he debated. His wife Linda, whom he married in 1926, was also a political campaigner who was heavily involved in issues around the electorate. The 1962 election resulted in a hung parliament whereby the LCL, by this time, Stott was the only independent in the chamber, and he was now in a position where he could effectively choose the next Premier. The ALP were initially hopeful of convincing Stott to support them in government, Stott threw his support to Playoford, referring to him as the greatest Premier in history. Labor resigned itself to three years in opposition. Stott lost the following the 1965 election but regained it in 1968 when the LCL
11.
Bruce Eastick
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Bruce Charles Eastick is a former South Australian politician and South Australian Leader of he Opposition from 1972 to 1975. He was a member of the Liberal and Country League which was succeeded in 1974 by the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia and he represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Light from 1970 to 1993. Eastick served as a member of the Gawler Council from 1963 to 1968 and he would later serve a second stint as mayor from 1993 to 2000. Eastick led his party to the 1973 and 1975 elections, losing both to the Don Dunstan-led South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, as such, he was the only LCL leader to have never served as Premier. Eastick also served as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly when his successor as South Australia Liberal leader, David Tonkin, served as Premier from 1979 to 1982. In 1996 Eastick was made a member of The Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the South Australian Parliament, local government, Eastick is the eldest son of Sir Thomas Charles Eastick
12.
Jack Snelling
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Prior to his election into politics, Snelling was an electoral officer, and a staffer in the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. Snelling was a supporter of the work of Christopher Pearson, entering parliament in 1997 at the age of 24, he was the youngest member of the House of Assembly at the time. He was Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly for the Mike Rann Labor government from 2006 to 2010 and he also served as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees. He is aligned with Labors right faction, a consequence of the major 2016 electoral redistribution was that two thirds of the voters in Snellings electorate of Playford will be moved to Florey. On 15 March 2017 he won Labor preselection to be the candidate for Florey at the 2018 election, the incumbent member for Florey, Frances Bedford, had also nominated for pre-selection. On 28 March 2017, Bedford resigned from the party after they endorsed Snelling for the seat, as with the rest of the crossbench, Bedford will continue to provide confidence and supply support to the incumbent Labor government. She has not decided if she will re-contest Florey as an independent, following the 2010 election, Snelling was appointed as the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Science, Information Economy, Veterans Affairs and Road Safety. Following the parliamentary resignation of Kevin Foley, Snelling was sworn in as the Treasurer of South Australia on 8 February 2011 and he met his wife through the Young Labor movement. Parliamentary Profile, SA Parliament website Parliamentary Profile, SA Labor website
13.
Michael Atkinson
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First elected to the House at the 1989 election, Atkinson is Father of the House. A day after the 2010 election, he stepped down as Attorney-General and he was a member of the Australian Journalists Association whilst working for the Adelaide Advertiser. He is currently a member of the Australian Services Union, Atkinson attended Glenelg Primary School and Unley High School. He then studied at the Australian National University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, a founding member of the Labor Right faction, Atkinson was first elected to Parliament at the 1989 election. Following the 1993 election, he was minister in a range of portfolios until Labor won government at the 2002 election. He subsequently became Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Consumer Affairs, in a minor cabinet reshuffle in 2004, Atkinson lost his portfolio of Consumer Affairs. He became Minister for Correctional Services in 2006 and he was re-elected at the 2006 election landslide in his seat of Croydon with a 76 percent two-party vote from a 6.9 percent two-party swing toward him. At the 2010 election Atkinson was again re-elected, but with a 12 percent two-party swing against him, following his re-election, he announced he would resign from the Rann ministry but remain on the backbench. Atkinson was re-elected at the 2014 election where he picked up a 3.5 percent two-party swing toward him, on 5 February 2013 Atkinson replaced Lyn Breuer as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. In September 2016, Peter Malinauskas moved house and into Atkinsons electorate of Croydon. He said of Atkinson, Mick knows the movements of every one of his constituents – I suspect I’m no exception. ”Atkinson announced in February 2017 that he would be retiring from parliament as of the 2018 election. Atkinson has blocked attempts to introduce a R18+ for video games in Australia and he withdrew his support for a discussion paper released for public consultation on the subject of an R18+ rating. Unanimity from Atkinson and his state and federal Attorneys-General is required for the introduction of the rating. Australias rating system lacked a classification for games above MA15+ at the time and it therefore lacked not only an equivalent rating to the ESRBs AO rating but also an equivalent to its Mature rating. The laws were passed, and came into effect on 6 January 2010, following public criticism, Atkinson later promised to repeal the section following the 2010 South Australian election and indicated it would not be enforced during the electoral period. In 2008, Atkinson introduced legislation aimed at increasing the rights of victims of crime, the legislation purported to allow victims to suggest a suitable sentence for the offender and made it compulsory for judges to consider imposing a restraining order on convicted sex offenders. Since accepting his role as speaker, Atkinson has used his casting vote in Parliament to oppose several bills presented during the Weatherill government. These include a bill which would have allowed people to have their gender officially changed on their birth certificates
14.
Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
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The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer in the house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was created by section 35 of the Constitution of Australia, the authors of the Constitution intended that the House of Representatives should as nearly as possible be modelled on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Speaker is the officer of House of Representatives debates. The Speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, the office of Speaker is currently held by Tony Smith since 10 August 2015. The Deputy Speaker is Mark Coulton, who was elected Deputy Speaker on 30 August 2016, if the Speaker is absent the Deputy Speaker becomes the Acting Speaker. The Second Deputy Speaker is Rob Mitchell, the Clerk of the Australian House of Representatives conducts the election. In accordance with longstanding tradition, the MPs who move and second the nomination of the successful candidate drag him or her to the chair after his election, unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons in Britain, the Speaker generally remains an active member of their party. If a party member, the Speaker will continue to party meetings. There were two exceptions to this, the first Speaker, Frederick Holder and Peter Slipper, who resigned from their respective parties upon election as Speaker, and sat as independents. A Speaker ceases to hold office if, for any reason. Because the Speaker is always the nominee of the governing party, while the Opposition usually nominates one of its own members for Speaker after a general election, this is understood to be a symbolic act, and party discipline is always followed in any ballot. By reason of section 40 of the Constitution, while in the Chair, a Speaker does not have a vote, but if there is a tie in votes. Most Speakers have been senior backbenchers of the party holding office at the start of a new Parliament, two were former state premiers, Holder and Watt. Bronwyn Bishop was elected Speaker on 12 November 2013, as the Coalitions first female Speaker of the House, the Parliament was the first Australian federal parliament to have had three Speakers, Harry Jenkins, Peter Slipper, and Anna Burke. The name Speaker originates from olden times in the United Kingdom House of Commons, mr Speaker was a description rather than a title, the speaker being the Member of Parliament chosen to speak for them to the king. The first recorded use of the term Speaker was in 1377, during earlier times when the king was very powerful, he would usually only call the Parliament together to get it to agree to levy taxes. The speaker would report parliaments decisions to the king, which proved to be if it was not what the king wanted to hear
15.
Australian House of Representatives
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The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Australia. It is referred to as the house, with the Senate being referred to as the upper house. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses, a member of the House may be referred to as a Member of Parliament, while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a Senator. The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve, the House of Representatives currently consists of 150 members, elected by and representing single member districts, known as electoral divisions. The number of members is not fixed, but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, the most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election, increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election, returned to 148 at the 1996 election, each division elects one member using full-preference Instant-runoff voting. This was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election, which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote, the Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preference preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election. This system has remained in place since, allowing the Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The House is presided over by the Speaker, Members of the House are elected from single member electorates. One vote one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the number of voters with a maximum 10% variation. However, the quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Meanwhile, all the states except Tasmania have electorates approximately within the same 10% tolerance, voting is by the preferential system, also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal and this allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote. Under Section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a quota determined from the latest statistics of the Commonwealth. These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51, the parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. This is known as the Nexus Provision, the reasons for this are twofold, to maintain a constant influence for the smaller states and to maintain a constant balance of the two Houses in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. The population of state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members, the Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each
