Rory McEwen
Encyclopedia
Rory McEwen Australia
n politician, was the independent
member for the seats of Gordon
(1997-2002) and Mount Gambier
(2002-2010) in the South Australian House of Assembly
.
Before entering politics McEwen had been a TAFE Teacher/Administrator and much experience in local government including Chair of the Grant Council, Chair of the South-East Local Government Association, and Chair of the Greater Green Triangle Regional Development Association.
At the 1997 election, when Liberal Party
member for Mount Gambier Harold Allison retired, it was widely expected that the Liberal preselection would go to Grant District Council chairman Rory McEwen and had also received positive write-ups by The Advertiser
as an "experienced political operative", but he somehow lost to Scott Dixon, a self-employed Mount Gambier
sawmiller. McEwen ran as an independent and won only a handful of votes ahead of the Labor Party
to grab second place, and then by 0.1 percent sneaked ahead of Dixon on Labor preferences to win the seat. The election saw him and two other conservative independents holding the balance of power in the Olsen
Liberal minority government. McEwen made a formal pledge to support the Liberals on matters of confidence and supply.
McEwen was comfortably re-elected in the 2002 election. He was initially highly critical of Peter Lewis
's support of a Labor minority government. But later, McEwen formally supported Labor when he accepted a specially created fourteenth cabinet post in November 2002, at various times being the Minister for Local Government, Forests, Industry, Trade, Regional Development, Small Business, Agriculture, and Food and Fisheries, with a promise that he would retain a cabinet position after the 2006 election.
MeEwen was involved in a media controversy leading up to the 2006 election. The following paragraph is a quote from the site pollbludgercom:
There were fears of a voter backlash in the 2006 election due to McEwen siding with Labor, and he was presented with a strong challenge by Liberal candidate Peter Gandolfi. His primary vote dropped about 20 percent, however he finished 1.7 percent ahead of the Liberals on first preference and 6.2 percent on the two-party vote. As promised he kept his cabinet position in the new majority government.http://www.borderwatch.com.au/archives/1564
In 2007, the Liberals placed the Rann government under pressure over the non-disclosure of donations and gifts given to McEwen of which he was not required to disclose.
McEwen announced he would retire at the 2010 election, and resigned from cabinet in early 2009. It was expected the seat would revert to the Liberal Party candidate, however independent candidate Don Pegler
won the seat.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician, was the independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
member for the seats of Gordon
Electoral district of Gordon (South Australia)
Gordon was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia from 1993 to 2002. The district was based on and around the town of Mount Gambier....
(1997-2002) and Mount Gambier
Electoral district of Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier is an electorate for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the southeast part of the state centered on the city and extinct volcano of Mount Gambier....
(2002-2010) 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 :...
.
Before entering politics McEwen had been a TAFE Teacher/Administrator and much experience in local government including Chair of the Grant Council, Chair of the South-East Local Government Association, and Chair of the Greater Green Triangle Regional Development Association.
At the 1997 election, when Liberal Party
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...
member for Mount Gambier Harold Allison retired, it was widely expected that the Liberal preselection would go to Grant District Council chairman Rory McEwen and had also received positive write-ups by The Advertiser
The Advertiser (Australia)
The Advertiser is a daily tabloid-format newspaper published in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named "The South Australian Advertiser" on 12 July 1858, it is currently printed daily from Monday to Saturday. A Sunday edition exists under the name of the Sunday...
as an "experienced political operative", but he somehow lost to Scott Dixon, a self-employed Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
sawmiller. McEwen ran as an independent and won only a handful of votes ahead of the Labor Party
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...
to grab second place, and then by 0.1 percent sneaked ahead of Dixon on Labor preferences to win the seat. The election saw him and two other conservative independents holding the balance of power in the 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...
Liberal minority government. McEwen made a formal pledge to support the Liberals on matters of confidence and supply.
McEwen was comfortably re-elected in the 2002 election. He was initially highly critical of Peter Lewis
Peter Lewis (politician)
Ivan Peter Lewis is an Australian politician. Lewis was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly between 1979 and 2006 in the electorates of Hammond, Ridley, Murray-Mallee and Mallee. Between 1979 and 2000 he was in the House as a Liberal member. From 2000 until 2006 he served as an...
's support of a Labor minority government. But later, McEwen formally supported Labor when he accepted a specially created fourteenth cabinet post in November 2002, at various times being the Minister for Local Government, Forests, Industry, Trade, Regional Development, Small Business, Agriculture, and Food and Fisheries, with a promise that he would retain a cabinet position after the 2006 election.
MeEwen was involved in a media controversy leading up to the 2006 election. The following paragraph is a quote from the site pollbludgercom:
- Allan Scott, millionaire trucking magnate and publisher of the Border Watch newspaper, stood down editor Frank Morello in the final week of the campaign after the Border Watch ran a number of articles seen to be critical of the Liberal Party and its candidate. The move also prompted the sudden resignation of Lechelle Earl, the writer of the articles and the paper’s chief-of-staff. Craig Bildstien of The Advertiser that "everyone The Advertiser spoke to suspects millionaire businessman Allan Scott is the chief financier" of a local Liberal campaign that has been "flush with funds", with "widespread reports that the Liberals spent $50,000 on TV advertising between October and January". The paper later reported that it had "learned that Labor candidate Brad Coates last week threatened to withdraw $6000 worth of advertising from the Border Watch because of concerns that the paper was ‘too pro-Liberal’". Earlier in the campaign, the Border Watch conducted a "straw poll" of 100 local voters – presumably conducted at the Mount Gambier Arms just before closing time – which failed to get an answer out of 51 of them. Of the remainder, 23 backed Rory McEwen against 11 for Labor and 10 for Liberal. The accompanying article drew attention to this intriguing insight from Antony Green: "There are reports the CFMEU is putting considerable effort into Labor's campaign in this seat. This would be unlikely to elect a Labor MP, but it might be enough to defeat McEwen by squeezing his primary vote, as suggested by the Advertiser's opinion poll. Given Mike Rann has promised that McEwen can stay in Cabinet if Labor is re-elected, there will be a few Labor factional leaders who realise that one way of creating a cabinet vacancy is to defeat McEwen. If there is a vigorous Labor campaign in Mount Gambier, it is more about internal Labor politics in the formation of the next cabinet than realistic hopes of Labor winning Mount Gambier". http://www.pollbludger.com/sa2006/mountgambier.htm
There were fears of a voter backlash in the 2006 election due to McEwen siding with Labor, and he was presented with a strong challenge by Liberal candidate Peter Gandolfi. His primary vote dropped about 20 percent, however he finished 1.7 percent ahead of the Liberals on first preference and 6.2 percent on the two-party vote. As promised he kept his cabinet position in the new majority government.http://www.borderwatch.com.au/archives/1564
In 2007, the Liberals placed the Rann government under pressure over the non-disclosure of donations and gifts given to McEwen of which he was not required to disclose.
McEwen announced he would retire at the 2010 election, and resigned from cabinet in early 2009. It was expected the seat would revert to the Liberal Party candidate, however independent candidate Don Pegler
Don Pegler
Donald William "Don" Pegler is an Australian politician. He has been an independent member of the South Australian House of Assembly since the March 2010 election, representing the electorate of Mount Gambier....
won the seat.