Daniel Cregan is an Australian lawyer and

Independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

who has served as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly and as a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Early life

Cregan grew up in South Australia and Western Australia, attending the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, where he was active in student politics, including as a director of the Adelaide University Union and as president of the Adelaide University Law Students' Society. He also rowed for the Adelaide University Boat Club First VIII. Cregan received a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust bursary to study law at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

Career

After graduating, Cregan was appointed judge's associate to John Doyle AC QC ( Chief Justice of South Australia) and later served as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. While a student Cregan worked as a summer associate at Allens Linklaters, eventually joining the firm as a graduate lawyer and becoming a senior associate in the firm's disputes and investigations team. Cregan also held a number of board appointments with the Australian Property Institute and as a director of a family company.

Parliamentary service

Following the election of

Steven Marshall Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is a former Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He was a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...

's government in March 2018, Cregan was made Chair of the South Australian Public Works Committee with oversight of major infrastructure projects. In October 2021, Cregan announced that he would re-contest his seat as an independent at the forthcoming 2022 South Australian state election saying the State Government had failed to plan for the needs of his rapidly growing regional community.

Election as Speaker

On 12 October 2021, South Australia's Constitution Act was amended to adopt the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

practice of requiring an independent Speaker. Following passage of the constitutional changes, Cregan was elected Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. After the 2022 South Australian state election, Cregan was nominated by the Government and Opposition to serve as independent Speaker in the 55th

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, House of Assembly (lower house) and the 22-seat South Australian Legislati ...

. On 11 April 2024, Cregan resigned his commission as Speaker and was appointed a

after Independent member Geoff Brock stepped down from cabinet due to ill health. On 28 January 2025, Cregan announced he would not seek re-election in the next election due by 2026.

References

Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia Independent members of the Parliament of South Australia University of Adelaide alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century Australian politicians 1984 births {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub