Robert Simms | |
---|---|
Member of the South Australian Legislative Council | |
Assumed office 4 May 2021 | |
Preceded by | Mark Parnell |
Area Councillor for the City of Adelaide | |
In office 22 November 2018 –30 March 2021 | |
In office 2014 –9 September 2015 | |
Senator for South Australia | |
In office 22 September 2015 –2 July 2016 | |
Preceded by | Penny Wright |
Personal details | |
Born | Yorkshire,England,UK | 26 March 1984
Political party | Greens South Australia |
Other political affiliations | Australian Democrats |
Residence(s) | Adelaide,South Australia |
Education | Flinders University |
Occupation | Journalist,political advisor |
Profession | Barrister |
Robert Andrew Simms (born 26 March 1984) is an Australian politician,representing the Greens South Australia. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2015 to 2016,an Area Councillor for the City of Adelaide from 2014 to 2015 and from 2018 to 2021. Since May 2021,he has been a member of the South Australian Legislative Council.
Simms was born on 26 March 1984 in Yorkshire,England, [1] the son of an English father and Australian mother originally from Broken Hill,New South Wales. The family moved to Australia in 1987 and settled in Adelaide,South Australia. Simms attended primary school in Flagstaff Hill before going on to Aberfoyle Park High School,where he was a member of the debating club and served on the student council. [2]
He holds a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Honours),a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in politics and sociology) and a Graduate Certificate in Journalism. [3] In 2008 Simms was admitted as a barrister and solicitor. [4]
In 2015 he was part-way through a PhD in political philosophy at Flinders University,where he has also taught in the politics department. [3]
He has worked in the community sector as a policy advocate,serving on the boards of a number of community organisations,including the Youth Affairs Council and AIDS Council of South Australia. [5]
He has also worked as a radio journalist and freelance writer. [3]
Simms stood as a candidate for the Australian Democrats in the seat of Boothby at the 2004 federal election. He later stood for the Greens in Enfield at the 2010 state election,and Adelaide in the 2014 state election. He was elected as a City of Adelaide councillor in 2014,and was a co-convenor of the SA Greens in 2015. He resigned from the Council on 8 September 2015, [6] to fill a vacancy caused by Penny Wright's resignation from the Senate. [7]
Simms was a Greens member of the Senate,representing the state of South Australia,from 22 September 2015 until his defeat at the 2016 election. Until the appointment of James Paterson to the Senate in March 2016,he was the youngest serving senator and the second-youngest sitting MP (after Wyatt Roy).
As a senator,Simms was the Greens parliamentary spokesperson on higher education,LGBT rights and marriage equality—portfolios previously held by Senators Lee Rhiannon and Janet Rice. [8]
Simms was one of five openly-LGBTI members in the Parliament of Australia and supports marriage equality in Australia. [9]
After his defeat in 2016,Simms was the Greens' candidate for Adelaide again at the 2018 state election, [10] and received 12.6% of the first preference votes (third of four candidates). [11]
He was re-elected to City of Adelaide Council in 2018. [12]
In May 2021,he resigned from council for the second time,to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Mark Parnell on the South Australian Legislative Council. [13]
In March/April 2024,he has been active in the "Save the Cranker" movement to prevent historic live music pub The Crown &Anchor from being destroyed by developers. He introduced a motion to parliament to improve the state heritage laws, [14] and attended a large rally on 28 April 2024. [15] [16] On 2 May 2024,it was reported that a watered-down version of his motion had passed the Legislative Council,in which MPs would be "encouraged" to make a submission to the State Commission Assessment Panel. [17]
The Scottish Greens are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 2022 local elections,the party sits on 13 of the 32 Scottish local councils,with a total of 36 councillors. They held two ministerial posts in the first Yousaf government following a power-sharing agreement with the SNP from August 2021 until the end of the Bute House Agreement in April 2024,marking the first time Green Party politicians formed part of a government in the UK.
The Australian Greens (AG),commonly referred to simply as the Greens,are a confederation of green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election,the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and the fourth-largest by elected representation. The leader of the party is Adam Bandt,with Mehreen Faruqi serving as deputy leader. Larissa Waters currently holds the role of Senate leader.
Jane Diane Lomax-Smith,AM is an Australian politician and histopathologist serving as Lord Mayor of Adelaide since 14 November 2022. Lomax-Smith previously held the position of Lord Mayor between 1997 and 2000,after serving as a City of Adelaide councillor from 1991 to 1997.
The Greens NSW,also known as the NSW Greens,is a green political party in New South Wales and a member of the Australian Greens. First formed in 1991,the Greens NSW began as a state-level party before joining with other green parties in Australia to create the current federated structure.
Australian Greens SA is a green political party located in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a member of the federation of the Australian Greens party.
Nicholas James McKim is an Australian politician,currently a member of the Australian Senate representing Tasmania. He was previously a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly elected at the 2002 election,representing the Franklin electorate from 2002 to 2015,and led the party from 2008 until 2014. On 21 April 2010,he became the first member of the Greens in any Australian ministry. From February 2020 until June 2022,he served as co-deputy leader of the Australian Greens.
The Queensland Greens is a Green party in Queensland,Australia,and a state member of the Australian Greens. The party is currently represented in all three levels of government,by Larissa Waters and Penny Allman-Payne in the federal Senate;Stephen Bates,Max Chandler-Mather,and Elizabeth Watson-Brown in the House of Representatives;Michael Berkman and Amy MacMahon in the state Legislative Assembly;and Trina Massey and Seal Chong Wah in Brisbane City Council.
The Victorian Greens,officially known as the Australian Greens Victoria,is the Victorian state member party of the Australian Greens,a green political party in Australia.
Brighton and Hove City Council is a unitary authority in East Sussex,England. It was created as Brighton and Hove Borough Council on 1 April 1997 replacing Brighton and Hove Borough Councils. It was granted city status in 2001.
Mark Charles Parnell is an Australian former politician and parliamentary leader of the SA Greens in the South Australian Legislative Council. He was the first SA Greens representative to be elected to the Parliament of South Australia,at the 2006 election. He was re-elected for another eight-year term in the Legislative Council at the 2014 election. Parnell announced he would retire at the 2022 state election,but resigned from the parliament early to give his successor an "opportunity to make his mark in Parliament ahead of the election".
Susan Margaret Pennicuik is an Australian politician who served as a Greens member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2006 to 2018. Since April 2022,Pennicuik has served as a councillor on the City of Glen Eira.
Sarah Coral Hanson-Young is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since July 2008,representing the Australian Greens. She is the youngest woman to be elected to federal parliament,winning election at the age of 25 and taking office at the age of 26. She was the youngest person ever elected to the Senate,until Jordon Steele-John was elected in 2017.
Penelope Lesley Wright is an Australian activist and former politician who is South Australia's Guardian for Children and Young People in Care.
David Martin Shoebridge is an Australian politician and former barrister. He is a member of the Australian Greens and was elected to the Senate as the party's lead candidate in New South Wales at the 2022 federal election,to a term beginning on 1 July 2022. He previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2010 to 2022 and on the Woollahra Municipal Council from 2004 to 2012.
Peter Bryden Malinauskas is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of South Australia since 2022. He has been the leader of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for the division of Croydon since 2018. He was previously the Leader of the Opposition from 2018 until his victory at the 2022 state election.
Janet Elizabeth Rice is an Australian former politician. She served as a senator for Victoria from 2014 until 2024. She was a co-founder of the Victorian Greens and also served on the Maribyrnong City Council from 2003 to 2008,including a term as mayor.
Andrew Lockhart McLachlan is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since 6 February 2020,representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was previously a member of the South Australian Legislative Council,having been elected at the 2014 state election,and was subsequently elected President of the South Australian Legislative Council in May 2018. He resigned as president and member of the Legislative Council in February 2020,to take up the vacant seat in the Senate caused by the resignation of Cory Bernardi.
Alexander Charles Antic is an Australian politician who has been a senator for South Australia since 2019 representing the Liberal Party.
Dr Phélim Mac Cafferty is a former Green Party of England and Wales politician and the former leader of Brighton and Hove City Council,in Brighton and Hove,England. He served as a councillor for the Brunswick and Adelaide ward from 2011 until 2023 when he lost his seat.
The Crown &Anchor Hotel,affectionately known as The Cranker,is a pub in Grenfell Street,Adelaide,South Australia,known for its longstanding live music scene. The current building was designed by noted colonial architect,former mayor of Adelaide,and parliamentarian Thomas English and built in 1879,but it was extensively remodelled and extended in 1928 to designs by Milne,Evans,and Russell.