Andrew John Southcott (born 15 October 1967) is an Australian politician and medical practitioner. He was the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

seat of Boothby from the 1996 election until he stood down at the 2016 election.

Early life

Southcott was born in

Panorama, South Australia Panorama is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the ...

, and attended Paringa Park Primary School, and St Peter's College. He studied medicine at

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and was a medical practitioner before entering politics, serving as an intern and surgical trainee at the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

and as a surgical registrar at the

Flinders Medical Centre Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) is a major public tertiary hospital and teaching school, co-located with Flinders University and the 130 bed Flinders Private Hospital located at Bedford Park, South Australia. It opened in 1976. It serves as the ...

and

Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park The former Repatriation General Hospital, commonly referred to as The Repat or just Repat, was a hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the inner-southern suburb of Daw Park. After complete closure in 2017, and followed by extensive r ...

. While in office he has completed a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; the ...

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

at the

Political career

Southcott joined the party in 1989 while serving as president of the Adelaide Medical Students Society. He defeated Senate leader and future Defence Minister Robert Hill, a moderate, in a pre-selection battle for the seat of Boothby in 1994. Southcott is from the conservative faction of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

. Southcott was elected to the

seat of Boothby at the 1996 election and remained a

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

throughout the Howard Government. At the 2004 election, despite a solid national two-party swing and vote to the Liberals, Boothby became a marginal Liberal seat for the first time in over half a century, with

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Chloë Fox Chloë Catienne Fox (born 22 February 1971) is an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bright from 2006 to 2014 for the Labor Party. Personal life Fox is the daughter of Australian children's auth ...

reducing the Liberals to a marginal 5.4 percent two-party margin. Labor's Nicole Cornes reduced the Liberals to a marginal 2.9 percent two-party margin at the 2007 election, while at the 2010 election Labor's

Annabel Digance Annabel Faith Catford Digance is an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Elder for the Labor Party from the 2014 state election until her defeat at the 2018 state election. She was an independen ...

reduced the Liberals to just a 0.75 percent two-party margin (638 votes), which put Boothby ahead of neighbouring Sturt as the most marginal seat in South Australia. However, Boothby became a fairly safe Liberal seat again at the 2013 election. Southcott was a supporter of

Republicanism in Australia Republicanism in Australia is a popular movement to change Australia's system of government from a constitutional parliamentary monarchy to a republic, replacing the monarch of Australia (currently Charles III) with a president. Republicanism ...

. Southcott was chair of the Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties from 2003 until 2007. Following the Coalition's defeat at the 2007 election, Southcott was appointed by party leader

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is a business leader and former Australian politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NA ...

to the Outer Shadow Ministry as Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, and Apprenticeships and Training. Resulting from the ascendancy of

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

at the 2008 Liberal leadership ballot, Southcott became Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Training and Sport. After the ascendancy of

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

at the 2009 Liberal leadership ballot, Southcott was dropped from the Outer Shadow Ministry and demoted to Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services, Health and Wellbeing. Following the 2010 election, Southcott was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare. Resulting from the 2013 election where the Abbott Government took office, Southcott was dropped and not included in the incoming Abbott ministry, returning to the

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

where he remained. Following the resignation of

Bronwyn Bishop Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop (née Setright; born 19 October 1942) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of federal parliament for almost 30 years, the longest period of service by a woman. A member of the Liberal Party, she was a mi ...

, Southcott ran for the position of

Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the upper house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was ...

in August 2015 but was unsuccessful.

Parliamentary resignation

On 4 September 2015, Southcott announced his parliamentary retirement as of the 2016 election, and would resume his medical career. Southcott said his decision not to re-contest Boothby was "completely unrelated" to being unsuccessful in running for the Speakership. The Liberals pre-selected doctoral student and newspaper columnist

Nicolle Flint Nicolle Jane Flint (born 15 July 1978) is an Australian politician. She was the member for Boothby in South Australia in the Australian House of Representatives from 2016 to 2022. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and succeeded ...

as their candidate in Boothby at the 2016 election.Liberals announce Nicolle Flint as Boothby candidate in SA to replace veteran Andrew Southcott: ABC 1 November 2015
/ref>

References

External links

Personal websiteParliamentary Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southcott, Andrew People from Adelaide 1967 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Boothby University of Adelaide Medical School alumni People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Flinders University alumni

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians