Vincent Tarzia | |
---|---|
Leader of the Opposition in South Australia | |
Assumed office 12 August 2024 | |
Premier | Peter Malinauskas |
Deputy | John Gardner |
Preceded by | David Speirs |
Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party | |
Assumed office 12 August 2024 | |
Deputy | John Gardner |
Preceded by | David Speirs |
Minister for Police,Emergency Services and Correctional Services | |
In office 29 July 2020 –21 March 2022 | |
Premier | Steven Marshall |
Preceded by | Corey Wingard |
Succeeded by | Joe Szakacs |
Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly | |
In office 6 May 2018 –29 July 2020 | |
Premier | Steven Marshall |
Preceded by | Michael Atkinson |
Succeeded by | Josh Teague |
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for Hartley | |
Assumed office 15 March 2014 | |
Preceded by | Grace Portolesi |
Personal details | |
Born | Vincent Anthony Tarzia 24 September 1986 Rose Park,South Australia,Australia |
Political party | Liberal (SA) |
Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
Occupation | Solicitor |
Website | https://www.vincenttarzia.com.au/ |
Vincent Anthony Tarzia (born 24 September 1986) [1] is an Australian politician who is currently serving as the South Australia and Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party,and is 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. [2] Tarzia served as the Minister for Police,Emergency Services and Correctional Services in the Marshall ministry between July 2020 and March 2022. He currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport as well as Sport,Recreation and Racing as part of the South Australian Opposition. In August 2024,following the resignation of David Speirs,Tarzia was elected leader of the Liberal Party. [3]
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. [4]
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. [5] 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. [6] In January 2017,Tarzia became Shadow Cabinet Parliamentary Secretary.
On 6 October 2017,Nick Xenophon announced he would leave the senate and challenge Tarzia for the seat of Hartley in the 2018 state election. [7] 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, [8] 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. [9] Tarzia's victory was key in helping the Liberals win government for the first time since 2002. [10]
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 was the youngest Speaker in the Commonwealth.
In December 2018,Tarzia became the first Australian Speaker to enable Question Time to be broadcast live on Facebook. This decision sought to open up the South Australian Parliament to a bigger audience and was expected to increase "openness and accountability" of the Parliament. [11]
On 29 July 2020,Tarzia was appointed as Minister for Police,Emergency Services and Correctional Services,following a Cabinet reshuffle. As Minister,Tarzia introduced a number of road safety reforms in South Australia.
After calls for motorcycle licensing reform, [12] Tarzia introduced the Motor Vehicles (Motor Bike Driver Licensing) Amendment Act 2021 into parliament which subsequently passed both houses on 3 March 2021. [13] These laws raised the minimum age for obtaining a motorcycle learners permit from 16 to 18,and obtaining a full licence from 18 to 21. [14]
On 1 July 2021,new laws were introduced to further penalise hoon drivers. [15] Under the new law,South Australian drivers who have their car impounded have 38 days to pay their fine in full or face their vehicle being crushed or sold. Tarzia was quoted on ABC Radio asserting he has “no sympathy”for those who drive dangerously. [16]
In November 2021,legislation introduced by Tarzia was passed targeting drug drivers. Under the new laws,drivers will be instantly stripped of their licence upon failing a roadside drug test. [17]
In November 2020,Tarzia and the State Government delivered a $800,000 funding boost to Crime Stoppers SA. The funding injection was the first ever direct State Government funding for the organisation. [18]
At the 2022 South Australian election,Tarzia was re-elected for a third term as Member for Hartley. While the South Australian Liberal Party saw a two-party preferred swing against it of 6.52% in an election landslide, [19] Tarzia retained his seat with a swing against him of only 3%. [20] In April 2022,Tarzia assumed the shadow portfolios of Infrastructure and Transport and Recreation,Sport and Racing. [21]
The Division of Adelaide is an Australian electoral division in South Australia and is named for the city of Adelaide,South Australia's capital.
The Division of Barker is an Australian electoral division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903,when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member divisions. It is named for Captain Collet Barker,a British military officer and early explorer,prior to the British Settlement of South Australia,of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges,Fleurieu Peninsula and the region at the mouth of the Murray River near the Coorong where he tragically lost his life in 1831 whilst on active duty after successfully solo swimming the channel of water and went Compass in hand over a sandhill.
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Hartley is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after John Anderson Hartley,the public servant responsible for creating much of South Australia's public education system. It is a 15.65 km2 suburban electorate in Adelaide's northeast,taking in the suburbs of Campbelltown,Hectorville,Magill,Newton,Paradise and Tranmere.
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The South Australian Liberal Party,officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division),and often shortened to SA Liberals,is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) in 1932 and became the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party when the Liberal Party was formed in 1945. It retained its Liberal and Country League name before changing to its current name in 1974. It is one of two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia,the other being the Australian Labor Party (SA Branch). The party is led by Vincent Tarzia since 12 August 2024.
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