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Sam Duluk

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Sam Duluk
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly
for Waite
In office
17 March 2018 – 19 March 2022
Preceded byMartin Hamilton-Smith
Succeeded byCatherine Hutchesson
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly
for Davenport
In office
31 January 2015 – 17 March 2018
Preceded byIain Evans
Succeeded bySteve Murray
Personal details
Born
Samuel John Duluk

Mildura, Victoria
NationalityAustralian
Political partyIndependent (since 2020)
Other political
affiliations		Liberal Party (2015–2020)
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
OccupationAccountant

Samuel John Duluk is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 2015 to 2022, representing Davenport until 2018 and then Waite. He was formerly a Liberal, but resigned to sit as an independent in 2020 after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.[1] He ran in the 2022 South Australian state election as an independent but came in third place.[2] Since retiring from the parliament, Duluk has worked as a political lobbyist.

Early life

Duluk was born in the Victorian city of Mildura, and is descended from post-war migrants from Poland.[3] He was raised in Adelaide and educated at Marryatville High School, then graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Adelaide, working as an accountant in the banking industry. He was state president of the South Australian Young Liberal Movement.[4]

Parliament

Duluk won Davenport at a 2015 by-election, despite a five percent two-party-preferred swing against him, which turned the historically safe Liberal seat of Davenport in to a marginal one for the first time.[5] After a redistribution transferred most of his constituents to the neighbouring seat of Waite, Duluk opted to contest Waite and won.

Assault allegations

On the first sitting day of 2020, Duluk expressed regret for several alleged instances of inappropriate behaviour at a parliamentary Christmas party in December 2019. The Speaker, Vincent Tarzia, commissioned a private investigator to produce a report into Duluk's conduct, which allegedly included slapping SA Best MLC Connie Bonaros on the backside and making racist and homophobic comments to other MPs.[6] A week later, after police confirmed Duluk had been reported for "basic assault" over the incident concerning Bonaros, the South Australian premier, Steven Marshall, said that Duluk could no longer attend meetings of the Parliamentary Liberal Party. Duluk subsequently announced that he would take leave from parliament and suspend his membership of the party while the matter was under investigation.[7] In April, he was summonsed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on 6 October 2020. He apologised in parliament for his behaviour and said he was seeking help in combating an alcohol problem.[8] In October, Duluk's lawyers asked the court for access to a private investigator's report to the speaker of the House of Representatives. The matter returned to court in December 2020 when the new Speaker of the House claimed that the draft report was covered by parliamentary privilege.[9] On 25 August 2021 the court found him not guilty of assault, but magistrate John Wells said he "behaved like a drunken pest" and his behaviour was "entitled, uncouth and disrespectful". He was advised by the magistrate that "Your behaviour towards Ms Bonaros … was rude, unpleasant, insensitive and disrespectful. You owe her an apology."[10] On 8 September 2021 new allegations were raised against Duluk relating to his behaviour at the 2019 Christmas party by Greens MLC Tammy Franks in an address to the legislative assembly. Chief among these were allegations that Duluk had made sexual remarks about numerous women present, as well as homophobic comments directed at a male parliamentary staff member. Additionally, Duluk was accused of remarking that an Indigenous MP was "not a real Aboriginal."[11][12] On 9 September the following day Duluk announced he would be running as an Independent at the upcoming state election.[13] [14]

References

  1. ^ "Liberal MP Sam Duluk banished from party and Parliament over alleged assault case". ABC News. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Liberal stronghold falls to Labor following South Australian election but Steven Marshall retains Dunstan". MSN. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. ^ Duluk, Sam. "Maiden speech". Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  4. ^ Owen, Michael (26 May 2011). "Young Libs deny rule changes racist". The Australian. Retrieved 13 July 2015. [dead link]
  5. ^ "Liberals withstand swing to win by-election in South Australian seat of Davenport". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. ^ Dayman, Isabel (6 February 2020). "'I'm on a journey of recovery': Embattled MP addresses Parliament over alleged inappropriate behaviour". ABC News. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  7. ^ Richardson, Tom (14 February 2020). "Duluk takes leave from parliament and party after police confirm assault report". InDaily. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  8. ^ Hunt, Nigel (21 April 2020). "Besieged MP Sam Duluk to face assault charge in October". The Advertiser. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  9. ^ Dillon, Meagan (9 December 2020). "Parliamentary privilege claim to keep investigator's documents out of MP Sam Duluk's assault case". ABC News. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Ex-Liberal MP Sam Duluk found not guilty of assaulting Connie Bonaros at 2019 Christmas party". ABC News. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  11. ^ "South Australian MP Sam Duluk accused in parliament of making racist and homophobic remarks". the Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  12. ^ "SA MP made racist, homophobic and harassing remarks at Christmas party, Parliament told under privilege". www.abc.net.au. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Former Liberal MP Sam Duluk to run as an independent amid 'salacious' Christmas party accusations". www.abc.net.au. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  14. ^ Cosenza, Emily (9 September 2021). "Explosive claims about 'drunken pest' MP". News.com.au.
South Australian House of Assembly
Preceded by Member for Davenport
2015–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Waite
2018–2022 		Succeeded by
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