Martin Hamilton-Smith
Encyclopedia
Martin Leslie James Hamilton-Smith (born 1 September 1953) is the member for the electoral district of Waite
in the South Australian House of Assembly
since 1997. He was the parliamentary leader of the South Australia
n division of the Liberal Party of Australia
and the Leader of the Opposition
in South Australia from 2007 to 2009.
as an officer in the Australian Army
, he then went on to begin a career in the Australian Special Air Service Regiment
(SAS) for many years. He specialised in counter-terrorism and spent many years in the UK commanding one of the first counter-terrorism units. He toured in the Middle East while part of the SAS and then took command of the 1st Commando Regiment until his retirement with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
in 1994.
on a two party preferred (2PP) basis. Hailing from the conservative faction, his preselection win in Waite over Robert Lawson from the moderate faction was marred by controversy. Previous Waite MP Stephen Baker
, from the moderate faction, resigned two months prior to the election which was seen as a result of losing the deputy leadership after the coup of leader Dean Brown
from the moderate faction, by John Olsen
from the conservative faction. The preselection victory of Hamilton-Smith prompted Brown to complain of interference by federal conservative MPs Nick Minchin
, Grant Chapman
and Andrew Southcott
.
At the 2002 election when Rann
Labor
came to power, Hamilton-Smith retained his seat by twelve percent against Labor on 2PP, and by four percent at the 2006 election. Hamilton-Smith was the Innovation and Tourism minister in the Kerin
Liberal government from December 2001 to March 2002.
, but later withdrew his challenge. On 11 April 2007, Hamilton-Smith formally challenged then Liberal leader Iain Evans
, and was successful with 13 votes to 10 for the Liberal leadership. On 19 April 2007, he announced a re-shuffle of the opposition front bench.
Under his leadership, polling by Newspoll has seen the Liberals go from 29 to 40 per cent on the primary vote, and from 39 to 50 per cent on the two party preferred vote. The Preferred Premier rating saw Hamilton-Smith start on 21 per cent, seven points higher than his predecessor, to a high of 30 per cent, with Rann falling from a high of 64, to 48 per cent. However, Newspoll saw Labor back in a winning position on 54 to 46 in late 2008, and then 56 to 44 in early 2009 along with a widening gap in the Preferred Premier rating. During the 50-50 polling, The Sunday Mail polling suggested that whilst there had been large swings away from the government in country areas, support was holding relatively firm at 2006 election levels in the metropolitan areas. However, this did not play out at the 2009 Frome state by-election
, which saw a rare two-party swing to an incumbent government, and was the first time an opposition had lost a seat at a by-election in South Australia. In addition, Hamilton-Smith prematurely claimed victory.
, coupled with the Frome by-election and continued poor polling, had seen Liberal MPs openly talk of a leadership change, with a high chance of a leadership spill likely, prior to the next South Australian state election
. Opposition Frontbencher Mitch Williams
quit the Hamilton-Smith Shadow Cabinet in protest of his leadership on 28 July 2009, after The Sunday Mail revealed Labor was leading 64-36 in metropolitan Adelaide. Two days later, Hamilton-Smith announced a spill of the leadership and deputy leadership, with a ballot taking place on Saturday 4 July 2009. Williams, Isobel Redmond
, and Iain Evans
ruled out contesting the ballot, with Hamilton-Smith and moderate Vickie Chapman
the only contenders. Hamilton-Smith defeated Chapman in the leadership spill, 11 votes to 10, with one MP abstaining. At first, Hamilton-Smith immediately announced he would stand down, which would have delivered the leadership to Chapman, but he was convinced by conservative senior Liberal MPs Ivan Venning
and Graham Gunn
to continue. Hamilton-Smith announced a second leadership ballot to be held on Wednesday 8 July. Speculation centred around whether Hamilton-Smith would contest the second leadership ballot. He responded to journalist questions with:
On Monday 6 July, Hamilton-Smith confirmed he would not be running for the leadership. Contenders for the leadership were Chapman, Redmond, and Williams. Previous Hamilton-Smith supporters appeared to be backing Redmond. Redmond won the leadership spill on 8 July 2009, 13 votes to 9 against Chapman.
in a party-room vote, defeating Iain Evans 10 votes to 8. He once again defeated Evans in a leadership position in a rematch between the two former leaders. Hamilton-Smith got to be in the reverse position being deputy to Isobel Redmond as Redmond had briefly served as Hamilton-Smith's deputy before his leadership demise.
However Redmond had made it known that Hamilton-Smith was not her preferred deputy and he stood aside when a party room meeting was called for 6 April to reconsider the deputy's job and Mitch Williams was elected unopposed to replace Hamilton-Smith.
Remarkably just as Redmond had served as Hamilton-Smith's deputy for a few days in July 2009, Hamilton-Smith in turn served as Redmond's deputy for a few days from 30 March to 6 April 2010.
Electoral district of Waite
Waite is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. Named after Peter Waite, a 19th entrepreneur and philanthropist in the current area of the electorate, it is a 30.6km² urban electorate in Adelaide's inner south-eastern suburbs, taking in the...
in the South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
since 1997. He was the parliamentary leader of the South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n division of the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and the Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)
The Leader of the Opposition in South Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties, known as the Opposition, in the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia. By convention, he or she is generally a member of the House of Assembly...
in South Australia from 2007 to 2009.
Early life
Graduating from Royal Military College, DuntroonRoyal Military College, Duntroon
The Royal Military College, Duntroon is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is situated on picturesque grounds at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence...
as an officer in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, he then went on to begin a career in the Australian Special Air Service Regiment
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
(SAS) for many years. He specialised in counter-terrorism and spent many years in the UK commanding one of the first counter-terrorism units. He toured in the Middle East while part of the SAS and then took command of the 1st Commando Regiment until his retirement with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
in 1994.
Parliament
Hamilton-Smith first won Waite in the 1997 election by six percent against the DemocratsAustralian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
on a two party preferred (2PP) basis. Hailing from the conservative faction, his preselection win in Waite over Robert Lawson from the moderate faction was marred by controversy. Previous Waite MP Stephen Baker
Stephen Baker (Australian politician)
Stephen Baker was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party of Australia in the electoral district of Waite, formerly Mitcham in the South Australian House of Assembly...
, from the moderate faction, resigned two months prior to the election which was seen as a result of losing the deputy leadership after the coup of leader Dean Brown
Dean Brown
Dean Craig Brown, AO was the Liberal Premier of South Australia between 14 December 1993 and 28 November 1996, and Deputy Premier of South Australia between 22 October 2001 and 5 March 2002 to Rob Kerin.-Political career:...
from the moderate faction, by John Olsen
John Olsen
John Wayne Olsen, AO was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001.-Parliament:Olsen was a member of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for more than 20 years...
from the conservative faction. The preselection victory of Hamilton-Smith prompted Brown to complain of interference by federal conservative MPs Nick Minchin
Nick Minchin
Nicholas Hugh "Nick" Minchin is a former Australian politician, serving as a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing South Australia from July 1993 to June 2011, and a former cabinet minister in the Howard Government....
, Grant Chapman
Grant Chapman
Hedley Grant Pearson Chapman is an Australian politician.Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Chapman was educated at the University of Adelaide and worked as a marketing executive in the oil industry and a self-employed management consultant prior to gaining Liberal Party pre-selection for the...
and Andrew Southcott
Andrew Southcott
Andrew John Southcott MP is an Australian politician and medical practitioner. He has been the Liberal Party member for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Boothby, South Australia, since the 1996 election.-Early life:...
.
At the 2002 election when Rann
Mike Rann
Michael David Rann MHA, CNZM , Australian politician, served as the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party to minority government at the 2002 election, before attaining a landslide win at the 2006 election...
Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
came to power, Hamilton-Smith retained his seat by twelve percent against Labor on 2PP, and by four percent at the 2006 election. Hamilton-Smith was the Innovation and Tourism minister in the Kerin
Rob Kerin
Robert Gerard Kerin was the Liberal Premier of South Australia from 22 October 2001 to 5 March 2002. He also served as Deputy Premier of South Australia to John Olsen from 7 July 1998 until he became premier upon Olsen's resignation....
Liberal government from December 2001 to March 2002.
Liberal leader
In October 2005, he moved to challenge then Liberal leader Rob KerinRob Kerin
Robert Gerard Kerin was the Liberal Premier of South Australia from 22 October 2001 to 5 March 2002. He also served as Deputy Premier of South Australia to John Olsen from 7 July 1998 until he became premier upon Olsen's resignation....
, but later withdrew his challenge. On 11 April 2007, Hamilton-Smith formally challenged then Liberal leader Iain Evans
Iain Evans
Iain Frederick Evans is a South Australian Liberal Party politician. He studied at Heathfield High School and gained a Bachelor Degree for Building Technology from the SA Institute of Technology . Prior to entering politics he managed a family-owned building and retailing business...
, and was successful with 13 votes to 10 for the Liberal leadership. On 19 April 2007, he announced a re-shuffle of the opposition front bench.
Under his leadership, polling by Newspoll has seen the Liberals go from 29 to 40 per cent on the primary vote, and from 39 to 50 per cent on the two party preferred vote. The Preferred Premier rating saw Hamilton-Smith start on 21 per cent, seven points higher than his predecessor, to a high of 30 per cent, with Rann falling from a high of 64, to 48 per cent. However, Newspoll saw Labor back in a winning position on 54 to 46 in late 2008, and then 56 to 44 in early 2009 along with a widening gap in the Preferred Premier rating. During the 50-50 polling, The Sunday Mail polling suggested that whilst there had been large swings away from the government in country areas, support was holding relatively firm at 2006 election levels in the metropolitan areas. However, this did not play out at the 2009 Frome state by-election
Frome state by-election, 2009
A by-election was held for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Frome on 17 January 2009. This was triggered by the resignation of former Premier and state Liberal MHA Rob Kerin...
, which saw a rare two-party swing to an incumbent government, and was the first time an opposition had lost a seat at a by-election in South Australia. In addition, Hamilton-Smith prematurely claimed victory.
Leadership spill
The "Dodgygate" affair which saw Hamilton-Smith falsely accuse Labor of accepting split donations from the Church of ScientologyChurch of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
, coupled with the Frome by-election and continued poor polling, had seen Liberal MPs openly talk of a leadership change, with a high chance of a leadership spill likely, prior to the next South Australian state election
Next South Australian state election
The 2010 South Australian state election elected members to the 52nd Parliament of South Australia on 20 March 2010. All seats in the House of Assembly or lower house, whose current members were elected at the 2006 election, and half the seats in the Legislative Council or upper house, last filled...
. Opposition Frontbencher Mitch Williams
Mitch Williams (Australian politician)
Michael Richard "Mitch" Williams is a South Australian Liberal politician and farmer. He is currently the deputy opposition leader in the South Australian parliament. He resigned from the Liberal Party and was elected to the safe Liberal seat of MacKillop in the state's south east at the 1997...
quit the Hamilton-Smith Shadow Cabinet in protest of his leadership on 28 July 2009, after The Sunday Mail revealed Labor was leading 64-36 in metropolitan Adelaide. Two days later, Hamilton-Smith announced a spill of the leadership and deputy leadership, with a ballot taking place on Saturday 4 July 2009. Williams, Isobel Redmond
Isobel Redmond
Isobel Mary Redmond is the current parliamentary leader of the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of Australia and the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Australia since 2009. The Redmond Liberals won 18 of 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 2010...
, and Iain Evans
Iain Evans
Iain Frederick Evans is a South Australian Liberal Party politician. He studied at Heathfield High School and gained a Bachelor Degree for Building Technology from the SA Institute of Technology . Prior to entering politics he managed a family-owned building and retailing business...
ruled out contesting the ballot, with Hamilton-Smith and moderate Vickie Chapman
Vickie Chapman
Vickie Ann Chapman is an Australian politician, representing the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bragg for the Liberal Party since 2002. She was Deputy Leader of the South Australian Opposition from 30 March 2006 until 4 July 2009.-Early life:Chapman was born in Kangaroo Island...
the only contenders. Hamilton-Smith defeated Chapman in the leadership spill, 11 votes to 10, with one MP abstaining. At first, Hamilton-Smith immediately announced he would stand down, which would have delivered the leadership to Chapman, but he was convinced by conservative senior Liberal MPs Ivan Venning
Ivan Venning
Ivan Howard Venning is an Australian politician and Liberal Party member of the South Australian House of Assembly since 1990....
and Graham Gunn
Graham Gunn
Graham McDonald Gunn, AM , Australian politician, was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly. He represented the electoral district of Stuart and was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia...
to continue. Hamilton-Smith announced a second leadership ballot to be held on Wednesday 8 July. Speculation centred around whether Hamilton-Smith would contest the second leadership ballot. He responded to journalist questions with:
We'll just have to wait and see. Do not believe anything anyone is telling you other than what you hear from my mouth, because people have been feeding you (the media) a whole lot of shit for several weeks to suit their own factional agenda.
On Monday 6 July, Hamilton-Smith confirmed he would not be running for the leadership. Contenders for the leadership were Chapman, Redmond, and Williams. Previous Hamilton-Smith supporters appeared to be backing Redmond. Redmond won the leadership spill on 8 July 2009, 13 votes to 9 against Chapman.
Deputy Leader
On Tuesday 30 March 2010, Hamilton-Smith was elected deputy leader of SA Liberals to replace Steven GriffithsSteven Griffiths
Steven Paul Griffiths is a former parliamentary deputy leader of the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of Australia and the deputy Leader of the Opposition in South Australia since 2009, and member for the electoral district of Goyder in the House of Assembly since 2006.Griffiths was...
in a party-room vote, defeating Iain Evans 10 votes to 8. He once again defeated Evans in a leadership position in a rematch between the two former leaders. Hamilton-Smith got to be in the reverse position being deputy to Isobel Redmond as Redmond had briefly served as Hamilton-Smith's deputy before his leadership demise.
However Redmond had made it known that Hamilton-Smith was not her preferred deputy and he stood aside when a party room meeting was called for 6 April to reconsider the deputy's job and Mitch Williams was elected unopposed to replace Hamilton-Smith.
Remarkably just as Redmond had served as Hamilton-Smith's deputy for a few days in July 2009, Hamilton-Smith in turn served as Redmond's deputy for a few days from 30 March to 6 April 2010.