Steven Georganas (; born 13 June 1959) is an Australian politician and is the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

member for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

seat of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

since the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 18 May 2019, to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissol ...

. Previously, he had been the member for Hindmarsh from 2004 to 2013 and again from 2016 to 2019.

Background

Georganas was born in

of Greek parents. He gained a Business Studies Certificate at a

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

college and worked as a taxi driver, an assembly-line worker in a factory, and an underwriter. He worked as a ministerial adviser to South Australian government minister

Jay Weatherill Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian former politician who was the 45th premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the South Australian House of Assembly, House of ...

from 2002 to 2004.

Political career

Elections

Georganas was the Labor Party candidate for Hindmarsh at the 1998 federal election and the 2001 federal election, but was unsuccessful on both occasions, losing to the incumbent

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

MP Chris Gallus. When Gallus retired at the 2004 federal election, Georganas defeated new Liberal candidate Simon Birmingham, winning Hindmarsh by 108 votes. He was re-elected with increased majorities at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2010 federal elections. Georganas was defeated by Liberal candidate Matt Williams at the 2013 federal election when the Australian Labor Party lost government. Georganas was successful at recapturing the seat for Labor at the 2016 federal election. A redistribution ahead of the 2019 federal election saw the neighbouring seat of

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

abolished, with most of its territory being transferred to Hindmarsh. The redistribution made Hindmarsh significantly more secure for Labor, boosting the Labor majority to 8.2 percent. Soon afterward, the Left and Right factions of SA Labor reached a deal that saw Georganas relinquish Hindmarsh to the incumbent MP for Port Adelaide, former federal Labor president

Mark Butler Mark Christopher Butler (born 8 July 1970) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the ...

. In return, Georganas was given Labor preselection for

, after the incumbent MP, Kate Ellis, announced that she was retiring. Adelaide was made safer for Labor at the redistribution, having a nominal majority of 9 percent.

Policy positions

Georganas campaigned on noise reduction surrounding the

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport, also known as Adelaide International Airport, is an International airport, international, Domestic airport, domestic and general aviation airport serving Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Located approximately 6 km ...

, and in 2007 introduced a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

to create an Aircraft Noise Ombudsman. He is a prominent advocate for animal welfare and curtailing live animal exports, speaking at rallies and tabling motions in parliament calling for the practice to be condemned and fines to be imposed for animal cruelty. He also campaigned for the super-trawler FV ''Margiris'' to be banned from fishing in Australia. Georganas voted in support of

same-sex marriage in Australia Same-sex marriage has been legal in Australia since 9 December 2017. Legislation permitting same-sex marriage, the '' Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017'', became law on 8 December 2017 and came into effect the nex ...

when the issue was debated in parliament in 2013. He has also campaigned for a "Do Not Knock" register to ban door-to-door salespeople from visiting registered properties, and introduced a private member's bill to create a register in 2012. Georganas left

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

, the faction that had supported him since the 1990s, in May 2019. Georganas joined several other South Australian MPs, candidates and members who had resigned from the left to join Labor Unity, including Tony Piccolo MP in 2013 and candidate Jo Chapley in 2018.

Personal life

Georganas has lived in the suburb of Mile End, currently in the electorate of Adelaide, his entire life. He has two adult sons. He is a supporter of the West Adelaide Football Club, and was a member of the club's board of directors from 2013 to 2016. He is also involved in numerous community organizations, including as president of his local

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

club, and as a board member of the Adelaide

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Glendi Festival.

References

External links

Profile: ALP.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georganas, Steve 1959 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hindmarsh Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide Politicians from Adelaide Australian people of Greek descent Australian taxi drivers Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 2004–2007 Australian MPs 2007–2010 Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025