Kyam Joseph Maher is an Australian politician and lawyer who has been

Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...

and the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council since March 2022. He was appointed to a

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

in the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, H ...

for the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party on 17 October 2012. He previously served in the Cabinet of South Australia between 2015 and 2018 and was the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council between 2016 and 2018.

Background

Maher is of

Aboriginal Tasmanian The Aboriginal Tasmanians (palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact, Aboriginal Tasmanians were divided into a numb ...

descent. He grew up in

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

and attended Grant High School there. He does not consider that he experienced the disadvantage and racism that is common for many Aboriginal people in Australia. He left Mount Gambier to study law and economics at 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 ...

. Maher was a lawyer and political staffer before becoming South Australian state secretary of the Australian Labor Party. In 2006, Maher was an inaugural committee member of the Progressive Labour Education Association Inc (PLEA), a joint-venture training organisation operated by the ALP Socialist Left faction and aligned unions

United Voice United Voice was an Australian trade union from 1992 to 2019. It merged with the National Union of Workers to form the United Workers Union in 2019. United Voice was part of the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party. The union was ...

(then the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union) and the

Australian Services Union The Australian Services Union (formally registered as the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union) is a trade union representing workers in a variety of industries. The ASU is affiliated with the Australian Council ...

Political career

Maher was appointed to the

in 2012 to replace outgoing MLC Bob Sneath. Maher was re-elected from fourth position on the Labor ticket at the 2014 election. In February 2015 he was appointed to cabinet and, between 2015 and the 2018 state election, Maher served as minister in the Labor Weatherill Ministry in a range of portfolios including manufacturing and innovation, automotive transformation, Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation; and employment and science and information economy. Maher was the first Aboriginal South Australian Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. On 18 January 2016 Maher was appointed as the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council in the Weatherill government. After Labor won government at the 2022 state election, Maher was appointed

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

in the Malinauskas ministry on 24 March, as well as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector. He also became Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council for the second time. Maher was the first initiated Aboriginal man in the nation's history to be appointed in the Attorney-General position.

References

External links

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Parliamentary Profile: SA Labor website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Kyam Living people Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian lawyers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Indigenous Australian politicians