Michael Philip Pratt (born 10 February 1948) is a former Australian politician. A member of 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 li ...

, he was elected to 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 ...

at the

1988 Adelaide by-election A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Adelaide on 6 February 1988. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Chris Hurford to become Australia's Consul-General in New York City. The election w ...

. He served until his defeat at the 1990 federal election.

Early life

Pratt was born on 10 February 1948 in

Blyth, South Australia Blyth is a small town in the Mid North of South Australia, located west of the renowned Clare Valley. The town is located on the lands of the Kaurna people, the indigenous people who lived there before European settlement. It has a population ...

. Prior to entering politics he worked as a farmer and from 1984 as a marketing executive with the

Norwood Football Club Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which i ...

. He joined the Burra branch of the Young Liberals in 1970.

Parliament

Pratt was elected to the

at the

, which followed the resignation of the incumbent

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

(ALP) member

Chris Hurford Christopher John Hurford (30 July 1931 – 15 November 2020) was a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives seat of Adelaide from 1969 to 1987. He played a key role in the development of Australia's skills-oriented immigration p ...

to take up a diplomatic post. In parliament he served on the standing committee on the Parliamentary Library. He was defeated for re-election at the 1990 federal election by the ALP candidate

Bob Catley Robert Adrian Catley is an English singer and musician, best known by his stage name as Bob Catley. He is the lead singer of the British rock band Magnum. He is also a solo artist. Biography Early years (1947–1972) Born in Aldershot on ...

Later activities

In 1992, Pratt announced that he would contest the

Division of Sturt Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics * Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consisti ...

at the next federal election as an independent. This brought him into conflict with Senator

Amanda Vanstone Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...

, who alleged that he had never intended to win the seat of Adelaide and was in fact using the by-election as a "dummy run" for the state seat of Norwood. Pratt later returned to the Liberal Party and supported

Vickie Chapman Vickie Ann Chapman is a former Australian politician, representing the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bragg for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia between the 2002 election and May 2022. Chapman served ...

's bid for the state leadership. In 2013, it was reported that he was handing out brochures for independent senator Nick Xenophon. He operated a Liberal Party campaign bus during the 2019 federal election. His daughter,

Penny Pratt Penelope Kate Pratt is an Australian politician. She has been a Liberal member of the South Australian House of Assembly since the 2022 state election, representing Frome. Pratt had previously contested two state elections. She stood for the s ...

was elected as the Liberal member for

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

at the

2022 South Australian state election The 2022 South Australian state election was held on 19 March 2022 to elect members to the 55th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 2018 election), and half t ...

References

1948 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide Members of the Australian House of Representatives 20th-century Australian politicians {{australia-Liberal-politician-stub