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Alex Antic

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Senator
Alex Antic
File:Senator Alex Antic 8 March 2021.png
Senator for South Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2019
Personal details
Born
Alexander Charles Antic

1974 (age 49–50)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Political partyLiberal
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
ProfessionLawyer, politician

Alexander Charles Antic (born 1974) is an Australian politician who has been a senator for South Australia since 2019 representing the Liberal Party.

Early life and education

Antic was born in Adelaide in 1974, the son of Vicki Anderson and Ratomir Antic. In his maiden speech to parliament he stated his belief that he was the first Australian senator of Serbian descent. His father arrived in Australia from Yugoslavia in 1957 and eventually became director of thoracic medicine at Royal Adelaide Hospital.[1]

Antic holds arts and law degrees from the University of Adelaide.[1] Before entering politics he was a senior associate with Tindall Gask Bentley lawyers.[2] He served on the Adelaide City Council from 2014 to 2018, representing the south ward.[3] In this role he publicly argued that local governments must concentrate on the delivery of services, rather than "being used as a vehicle for identity politics."[4] He also used his position on the council to press for the preservation of Australia Day.[5]

Political career and views

Antic is aligned with the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.[6][7]

Antic was elected to the Australian Senate at the 2019 federal election, taking office on 1 July 2019.[8][9] In the Liberal preselection process he had out-polled sitting senator Lucy Gichuhi, a fellow member of the party's conservative faction.[10][11]

In his maiden speech in September 2019 Antic spoke of his support for the development of an Australian nuclear power industry.[12] He also lambasted “the tyranny of political correctness”, and criticised the push towards developing renewable sources of energy.[13] In November 2019 he opposed moves to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia, stating that sex workers were being exploited and that it was hypocritical to support decriminalisation while opposing the use of grid girls at the Australian Grand Prix and Clipsal 500.[14]

In November 2021, Antic was one of five Coalition senators who voted in support of One Nation’s COVID-19 Vaccination Status (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2021, against the government's position.[15][16]

In December 2021, it was alleged that Antic misled Prime Minister Scott Morrison about his COVID-19 vaccination status after Morrison claimed Antic had been double-vaccinated during a radio interview.[17] Antic returned to Adelaide from Canberra having obtained a travel exemption for unvaccinated persons – the exemption having only been granted on appeal on the condition he spent 14 days in quarantine at a Medi-hotel – but on arrival he allegedly refused to provide his vaccination status to officials at Adelaide Airport, and then posted a video to social media claiming he had been "detained by overzealous bureaucrats" in what he called a "political stunt".[18]

In a Senate estimates hearing in November 2022, Antic accused the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) of "grooming children with [...] adult content" over a Play School segment that featured drag queen Courtney Act reading a children's book.[19] In response, Act stated that "to use terms of abuse when no abuse is actually happening, really takes away from the occasions when it is happening [...] I'm on television, reading a children’s book, there was nothing untoward about it. It was really quite a shocking thing to be accused of".[20][21]

Antic is aligned with the right faction within the South Australian Liberals[22] and has moved further to the right. He appears regularly on Sky News Australia[13] and has been a guest on far-right programs, including Steve Bannon’s podcast. He was set to be the MC for a speaking tour of Donald Trump Jr before it was cancelled, and was a guest at a forum with disgraced former Hillsong preacher Pat Mesiti.[23][24][25]

In March 2024, Antic defeated Liberal moderate and Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston, to lead the South Australian Liberal senate ticket in 2025. When asked about taking the position of a woman, given the Liberals' low number of women in parliament, Antic responded that “the ‘gender card’ is nothing but a grievance narrative”.[26]

Antic’s success in securing the top spot on the ticket led to criticism from other South Australian Liberals.[27][13]

Former fellow councillors Anne Moran and (now Greens MLC) Rob Simms said that they had been aligned and got on well on the Adelaide City Council, but that his politics had shifted since then. Moran said that undermining Ruston was a “pointless exercise” and "foolish politics".[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Antic, Alex (17 September 2019). "First speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Alex Antic Senior Associate". Tindall Gask Bentley. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. ^ "New Council Investiture Ceremony". City of Adelaide. 18 November 2014. New elected members: Lord Mayor: Martin Haese; Area: Robert Simms; North: Philip Martin; Central: David Slama; South: Alex Antic; South: Priscilla Corbell
  4. ^ "Councillor Wants City Council To Stick To Day Job". FiveAA. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Local govt should stay out of debate I started, says councillor". InDaily. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  6. ^ Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  7. ^ Massola, James. "How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Qualification Checklist" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 2019.
  9. ^ "First preferences by Senate group: South Australia". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Right-wing Senate wannabe Alex Antic takes aim at his own". The Weekend Australian. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  11. ^ Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  12. ^ "New Lib senator joins nuclear power push". The Canberra Times. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d Shepherd, Tory (19 March 2024). "Alex Antic: Liberal who rolled female frontbencher described as nice guy turned 'Trumpian' by colleagues". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Grid girls used in sex-work debate". Adelaide Now. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  15. ^ "COVID-19 Vaccination Status (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2021". www.legislation.gov.au.
  16. ^ "Scott Morrison faces Senate revolt over Pauline Hanson bill". news.com.au. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Scott Morrison denies misleading Australians on Liberal senator Alex Antic's vaccination status". the Guardian. 3 December 2021.
  18. ^ Sulda, Dixie; Bermingham, Kathryn; Starick, Paul (3 December 2021). "Senator Alex Antic won't say if he's been vaccinated and doesn't know why he was taken to hotel quarantine". The Advertiser.
  19. ^ Meade, Amanda (8 November 2022). "Liberal senator's ABC 'grooming' comments denounced as 'deeply offensive'". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  20. ^ Thomas, Shibu (21 November 2022). "Courtney Act hits back at liberal senator Alex Antic's offensive slur". Star Observer. SSO Media. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  21. ^ Meade, Amanda (8 November 2022). "Liberal senator's ABC 'grooming' comments denounced as 'deeply offensive'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  22. ^ "The factional feud prompting claims the SA Liberals are 'at war with themselves'". ABC News. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  23. ^ "Coalition members George Christensen and Alex Antic appear on far-right US chat shows". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  24. ^ Polychronis, Gabriel (16 February 2024). "Rebel Senator Alex Antic in anti-vax limelight with ex-Hillsong pastor, RFK Jr".
  25. ^ "Trump Jr cancels Australian tour, blaming late visa". Yass Tribune. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  26. ^ [1]
  27. ^ https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/liberal-fury-at-the-antics-of-alex-the-anti-woke-senator-20240318-p5fd8g.html?btis
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