Duncan McFetridge (born 27 January 1952) is an Australian politician who represented the

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 The House of Assembly was creat ...

seat of Morphett for the

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from the 2002 election until 2018. Entering shadow cabinet in 2004, he was re-elected at the

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and

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elections, and holds the seat with a margin of 12.9 points. This was reduced to 7.7 points following the 2016 redistribution. McFetridge lost his shadow cabinet position in January 2017."Gutted" McFetridge quits Libs, considers independent tilt: InDaily 1 May 2017
/ref> McFetridge resigned from the Liberals and moved to the

crossbench A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

as an

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in May 2017 after losing endorsement for Morphett pre-selection ahead of the 2018 election.

Early career

McFetridge worked as a high school teacher for four years, teaching woodwork and metalwork at

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

and Minlaton High Schools. In 1979 McFetridge began studying

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, graduating in 1982. He then worked with racehorses, and later in horse and livestock transport. Duncan then ran a veterinary practice in the Chandlers Hill/ Happy Valley area.

Parliament

Early in his career Dr McFetridge introduced a private members Bill to ban tail docking of dogs. The Bill was the first Opposition Private Member's Bill to be given Government time for debate in the history of the SA Parliament. The then Labor Government introduced a ban on tail docking. He was a member of the Statutory Officers Committee and is the longest serving member of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee, appointed from 2003 to 2010 and was re-appointed in 2012 to 2017. He has been a member of three House of Assembly Select Committees – Jumps Racing; Dogs and Cats as Companion Animals; and Review of the Retirement Villages Act 1987. He was also Deputy Opposition

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the House of Assembly from 2002 until 2004. Dr McFetridge had previously held the Shadow Portfolios of Communities & Social Inclusion, Disabilities, Emergency Services, Veterans' Affairs, Aboriginal Affairs & Reconciliation, Social Housing, Volunteers, Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Suicide Prevention, Youth, Transport & Infrastructure, Police, Correctional Services, Road Safety, Health, Industrial Relations, Science & Information Economy, Industry & Trade, Education & Children's Services, the Arts, Tourism, Local Government, Recreation & Sport, Consumer Affairs, and Small Business. After 13 years, Dr McFetridge lost his position in the

Steven Marshall Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is an Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He has been a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...

shadow cabinet and moved to the backbench in January 2017. Dr McFetridge announced on 1 May 2017 that he would resign from the Liberals and move to the

as an

after losing Liberal pre-selection in Morphett for the 2018 election to

City of Holdfast Bay The City of Holdfast Bay is a local government area in the south-western coastal suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. History The council was formed 1 January 1997, when the City of Glenelg and City of Brighton councils were amalgamated by ...

mayor

Stephen Patterson Stephen John Rayden Patterson (born 4 January 1971) is an Australian politician, and a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Australian Football League (AFL), and Norwood in the South Australian National Foot ...

. Mr Patterson beat Dr McFetridge by one vote after his name was drawn ‘out of a hat’as he and the other contender were even behind McFetridge on primary votes. The following month, Dr McFetridge announced he would re-contest Morphett as an independent.SA MP Duncan McFetridge vows to stand as independent after losing Liberal preselection: ABC 19 June 2017
/ref> He was pushed into third place on the primary vote, but his preferences flowed overwhelmingly to Patterson, allowing the Liberals to reclaim the seat.

Personal life

McFetridge grew up in the Adelaide suburbs of

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and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. He attended Salisbury High School, and then went on to study at Western Teachers College. McFetridge is a current member and a former captain of the

South Australian Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and hazardous mater ...

, and a member of many other community clubs, including Rotary. His other interests include sailing, surfing and personal fitness. He is married, with two adult children, and has two grandchildren.

References

External links

DuncanMcFetridge.com official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McFetridge, Duncan 1952 births Living people Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia English emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians