Vincent Tarzia
Vincent Tarzia | |
|---|---|
| File:Tarzia Vincent - High res (002).jpg | |
| 35th Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly | |
| Assumed office 3 May 2018 | |
| Premier | Steven Marshall |
| Preceded by | Michael Atkinson |
| Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for Hartley | |
| Assumed office 15 March 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Grace Portolesi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 September 1986 Adelaide, South Australia |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia (SA) |
| Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
| Profession | Solicitor |
| Website | https://www.vincenttarzia.com.au |
Vincent Anthony Tarzia (born 24 September 1986) is an Australian politician representing the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Hartley for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia since the 2014 state election.[1]
Background and early career
Tarzia attended St Joseph's School Payneham and Rostrevor College. During his time at Rostrevor, Tarzia was Head Prefect and Dux of the college. At the age of 14, he started his first job stacking shelves at a local Foodland.
Tarzia then went on to obtain law and commerce degrees at the University of Adelaide. He was a solicitor and worked in Funds Management, Legal and Commercial sectors.[2]
Vincent is active in many local community and sporting groups, including Neighbourhood Watch, the Campbelltown Rotary Club, Norwood Football Club and Payneham RSL.
Political career
Tarzia entered politics in 2010, serving as a Councillor of the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters. He was elected 1st out of 7 candidates, defeating two long-term incumbents.
In 2012, Tarzia was pre-selected to challenge his local, north-eastern seat of Hartley.[3] Tarzia won the seat of Hartley at the 2014 state election, after defeating the Labor incumbent Grace Portolesi.
In January 2016 Tarzia was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Start-ups.[4] In January 2017, Tarzia became Shadow Cabinet Parliamentary Secretary.
2018 Election
On October 6, 2017, Nick Xenophon announced he would leave the senate and challenge Tarzia for the seat of Hartley in the 2018 state election.[5] A month after Xenophon's announcement, Tarzia's predecessor, Grace Portolesi was announced as the Labor candidate for Hartley, turning the seat into a three-way contest. In early polls in January 2018, Xenophon was predicted to win Hartley,[6] with articles naming Xenophon as the most influential person in South Australia. Despite being written off by the media, Tarzia went on to win the three-way race and retain Hartley convincingly, with 57.8% of the vote and a 4.7% swing towards him, despite a statewide swing of 1.1% against the Liberals.[7] Tarzia's victory was key in helping the Liberals win government for the first time since 2002.[8]
On 3 May 2018, he was elected the 35th Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly, becoming the youngest person to hold the office of Speaker in South Australian history and first of Italian Heritage. It is said that Tarzia is the youngest Speaker in the Commonwealth.
Speaker
In December 2018, Tarzia became the first Australian Speaker to enable Question Time to be broadcast live on Facebook. This innovative decision opened up the South Australian Parliament to a new generation and has increased openness and accountability of the Parliament. [9]
References
- ^ 2014 SA election: Antony Green ABC
- ^ Parliamentary Profile: SA Parliament
- ^ "Vincent Tarzia: The man in the middle of one of South Australia's most exciting political races = Ilglobo". Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ "New SA Opposition frontbench to focus on jobs, economy". ABC News. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "Nick Xenophon to quit Senate and run for state seat of Hartley". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ "SA Best on track to win at least three seats at SA election = The Advertiser". Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "SA election: Liberals claim victory as Labor's Jay Weatherill concedes". ABC News. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ [2]
External links
Presiding officers of Australian legislatures | |
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Federal, States and territories | |
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