Finniss is a single-member electoral district for 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 crea ...

. It is named after B. T. Finniss, the first

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier ...

. It covers a regional area which includes the localities of Back Valley, Currency Creek,

Encounter Bay Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baud ...

, Finniss, Goolwa, Goolwa Beach, Goolwa North, Goolwa South,

Hayborough Hayborough is a north-eastern suburb of the South Australian town of Victor Harbor, located on the south coast of Fleurieu Peninsula. In the , Hayborough had a population of 1,847, with a median age of 47—lower than the region as a whole, bu ...

Hindmarsh Island Hindmarsh Island (Ngarrindjeri: Kumerangk) is an inland river island located in the lower Murray River near the town of Goolwa, South Australia, Goolwa, South Australia. The island is a tourist destination, which has increased in popularity si ...

, Hindmarsh Tiers, Hindmarsh Valley, Lower Inman Valley, McCracken, Middleton, Mosquito Hill, Mount Compass,

Mount Observation Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

Mundoo Island Mundoo is the name of several geographic localities: * Mundoo, Queensland, a town in Australia * Mundoo (Laamu Atoll), an island in the Maldives * Mundoo Island, an island in Lake Alexandrina in South Australia **Mundoo Island, South Australia __NO ...

, Nangkita,

Port Elliot Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of t ...

, Tooperang, and Victor Harbor; as well as parts of Inman Valley and Waitpinga. Finniss has been a very safe seat for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

since its creation at the 1991 electoral redistribution as a replacement for the equally safe Alexandra. Dating to its time as part of Alexandra, the area now in Finniss has been held by Liberals or their predecessor, the

Liberal and Country League 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 ...

, without interruption since 1941. For most of that time, it has been a comfortably safe LCL/Liberal seat. It was contested for the first time at the 1993 election by newly elected Liberal leader

Dean Brown Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, who had returned to parliament after a seven-year absence by winning the

1992 Alexandra state by-election A by-election was held for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Alexandra on 9 May 1992. This was triggered by the resignation of former state Liberal MHA Ted Chapman William Edwin (Ted) Chapman (16 December 1934 – 25 July 2005) ...

. Brown had little difficulty winning Finniss, and subsequently became Premier after the election. Brown was later toppled as Premier by Liberal rival

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen, AO (born 7 June 1945) is a former Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, C ...

in 1996, and was initially expected to retire, but remained in parliament as a senior member of consecutive Liberal ministries and shadow ministries, and served as deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2001 to 2005—the first six months of that tenure as Deputy Premier. Brown retired at the

2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...

, and was succeeded by Liberal candidate

Michael Pengilly Michael Redding Pengilly (born 13 June 1950) is an Australian politician who is the mayor of Kangaroo Island. He formerly represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Finniss from the 2006 election to 2018, representing the L ...

, who held off a concerted attempt by the SA Nationals to take the seat. Pengilly held the seat easily until retiring at the

2018 election The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

David Basham David Keith Bernard Basham (born June 1968) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South A ...

retained the seat for the Liberals, despite a spirited challenge from

SA-BEST SA-Best (stylised SA-BEST), formerly known as Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST, is a political party in South Australia. It was founded in 2017 by Nick Xenophon as a state-based partner to his Nick Xenophon Team party (renamed to Centre Alliance in early ...

. Indeed, SA-BEST's showing in Finniss was strong enough to make the seat marginal for the first time in its current configuration. However, Finniss remains a comfortably safe Liberal seat in a "traditional" two-party matchup 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 ...

; Basham only suffered a small swing against Labor. Most of Finniss is located within the

Centre Alliance Centre Alliance, formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament, Rebekha Sharkie in the House of Represent ...

-held federal

Division of Mayo The Division of Mayo is an Australian electoral division located to the east and south of Adelaide, South Australia. Created in the state redistribution of 3 September 1984, the division is named after Helen Mayo, a social activist and the fir ...

Members for Finniss

Election results

Notes

References

ECSA profile for Finniss: 2018

ABC profile for Finniss: 2018

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finniss Electoral districts of South Australia 1993 establishments in Australia