George Richards Laffer (14 September 1866 – 7 December 1933) was an Australian politician. He was member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1913 until 1933, representing the electorate of

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

for the Liberal Union, and its successors the Liberal Federation and Liberal and Country League. He was a minister in the

Barwell Barwell is a civil parish and large village in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents, Increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census, the name literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from a boar that ...

government, and was

Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly The Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is the presiding officer of the South Australian House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia. The other presiding officer is the President of the South Australian ...

from 1927 until 1930. Laffer was born at

Coromandel Valley Coromandel Valley is a semirural south-eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It straddles the City of Mitcham and the City of Onkaparinga council areas, with the Sturt River being the boundary between the two council areas. History Co ...

into a fruit-growing family, his father having emigrated from Cornwall in 1840. He continued in the family business, and was actively involved in agricultural organisations, serving as a founder of the

South Australian Fruitgrowers' Association South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

, life member of the Agricultural Bureau, and as chairman of the Advisory Board of Agriculture. He served nine years on the Mitcham District Council, including four years as chairman. Laffer was elected to the House of Assembly for

on his third attempt in 1913. He was chairman of committees from 1918 to 1920, and was promoted to the ministry when Henry Barwell became Premier, serving as Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration and Minister for Repatriation until the government's defeat in 1924. Laffer was appointed Speaker after the Liberal Federation, in coalition with the Country Party, won the election of 1927 under Richard Layton Butler, serving until their defeat in 1930. He was a member of a Royal Commission into illegal betting and the licensing of bookmakers from 1932 until 1933. He died suddenly in office in 1933, and received a state funeral before being buried at Mitcham Anglican Cemetery.

References

Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Speakers of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian people of Cornish descent 1866 births 1933 deaths Liberal and Country League politicians {{Australia-politician-stub