Vickie Ann Chapman is a former Australian politician, representing 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 ...

seat of Bragg for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia between the 2002 election and May 2022. Chapman served as the

Deputy Premier of South Australia Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

and

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

between 19 March 2018 and 22 November 2021 in the

Marshall government 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 ...

. She was the first woman to hold either post. Chapman has previously served as deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2009, and became deputy leader again in 2013. In that capacity, she served as Deputy

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

between 30 March 2006 and 4 July 2009, and again between 4 February 2013 and 19 March 2018. She was also the Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for State Development, having gained the extra portfolio of State Development in a cabinet reshuffle on 13 January 2016.

Early life

Chapman was born on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

. One of seven children, Chapman attended the Kangaroo Island

Parndana Area School Parndana is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on Kangaroo Island about southwest of the state capital of Adelaide and about southwest of the municipal seat of Kingscote. History Parndana was established a ...

, and, following the death of her mother, at age 12 she later attended Pembroke School in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. She studied a law degree at the

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 graduated in 1979 as a barrister. Chapman's father, Ted, was a member of 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 an ...

and then the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the

. A Liberal moderate, Ted was a member of the

Steele Hall Raymond Steele Hall (born 30 November 1928) is a former Australian politician who served as the 36th Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970. He also served in the federal Parliament as a senator for South Australia from 1974 to 1977 and ...

-led Liberal Movement faction in the 1970s and Agriculture Minister in the

David Tonkin David Oliver Tonkin AO (20 July 1929 – 2 October 2000) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of South Australia from 18 September 1979 to 10 November 1982. He was elected to the House of Assembly seat of Bragg at the 1 ...

government. As a young girl, Chapman assisted her father in Liberal campaigns for office.

Parliament

1990s

As the Liberal Party state president from 1992–95, Chapman attempted to win Liberal preselection for the federal

division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member div ...

in 1998. Her husband, David, died in 2001 and she moved from

Wayville Wayville is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Unley. It is most notable for hosting of the Royal Adelaide Show at the Adelaide Showgrounds. The suburb is bordered to the north by Adelaide's South Parklands, to the west by Adela ...

to Tusmore with her two children. She again tried to win preselection, this time for the safest Liberal seat in the metropolitan area, Bragg, located in Adelaide's wealthy eastern suburbs.

2000s

When sitting member Graham Ingerson resigned, Chapman contested preselection against Liberal minister Michael Armitage, who was seeking to move from his marginal seat of

. Chapman easily gained preselection and retained Bragg with a slight 0.4-point two-party

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

at the 2002 state election when the Liberals lost government. However, she won 61.9 percent of the primary vote, easily enough to retain the seat outright. Chapman immediately joined the front bench, assuming the shadow portfolios of Education and Children's Services. She was soon touted by some quarters, within her party and in the media, as a future Liberal leader. In other quarters, however, Chapman was seen as a continuation of the factional battles that have long plagued the SA Liberals. The Liberals were cut down to only 15 seats at the 2006 election landslide. Chapman herself suffered a substantial 6.8-point two-party swing, but still retained Bragg with a comfortable majority of 12.6 percent, leaving Bragg as the only safe Liberal seat in Adelaide and one of only four safe Liberal seats statewide. Chapman was elected as deputy Liberal leader, and hence Deputy Leader of the Opposition, in an unexpected joint ticket with factional rival

Iain Evans Iain Frederick Evans (born 18 April 1959) is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2006 to 2007. Early life Evans attended Heathfield Primary and subsequently He ...

. Strong backing was received from federal Sturt MP

Christopher Pyne Christopher Maurice Pyne (born 13 August 1967) is a retired Australian politician. As a member of the Liberal Party, he held several ministerial positions in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, and served as a member of pa ...

, a longtime factional ally of Chapman, as well as another prominent boss of the SA Liberals' moderate faction, former Premier Dean Brown. She retained the deputy's post when

Martin Hamilton-Smith Martin Leslie James Hamilton-Smith (born 1 December 1953) is a former Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Waite from the 1997 election until his retirement in 2018. First elected as a candidate ...

ousted Evans as leader in 2007. Hamilton-Smith called a leadership and deputy leadership spill for 4 July 2009. Chapman ran against Hamilton-Smith for the leadership, but received only 10 votes, against Hamilton-Smith's 11, with Evans abstaining. Conservative

Isobel Redmond Isobel Mary Redmond (born 8 April 1953) is a former Australian politician who was the member for the electoral district of Heysen in the House of Assembly from 2002 to 2018. She was the parliamentary leader of the South Australian Division of t ...

was elected to the deputy leadership to replace Chapman. Hamilton-Smith called another leadership spill to take place on 8 July 2009, in an attempt to gain a more decisive mandate, but two days prior to the spill, he announced he would not run. Chapman again ran for the leadership but received only 9 votes, against Redmond's 13.

Steven Griffiths Steven Paul Griffiths (born 25 May 1962) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 2006 to 2018, representing the electorate of Goyder for the Liberal Party. He was the Deputy leader of t ...

was elected deputy leader 8 votes to 6 for

Mitch Williams Mitchell Steven Williams (born November 17, 1964), nicknamed "Wild Thing", is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997. He was also a studio analyst for the MLB Network from 2009 to ...

2010s

Despite having attempted to previously oust Hamilton-Smith as leader and having attempted to later defeat Redmond in a leadership ballot, Chapman voted for Hamilton-Smith in his successful bid as deputy leader on 31 March 2010 in a vote held after the third consecutive Liberal loss at the 2010 election where Chapman gained a substantial 9.1-point two-party swing. Voting for Hamilton-Smith as deputy meant not voting for Evans. Chapman drew headlines in the last week before the 2010 election for not being willing to publicly refuse challenging Redmond for the leadership and faced accusations, particularly by Hamilton-Smith, of derailing the Liberal campaign, with "Chapman Could Challenge" posters hung beneath many of the Liberal "Redmond is Ready" posters. Chapman was reappointed deputy opposition leader on 4 February 2013, and chose to announce she would rule out challenging new leader

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 ...

. Upon the fourth consecutive Liberal loss at the 2014 election, Chapman suffered a 1.5-point two-party swing but still retained Bragg with a comfortably safe 68.7 percent two-party vote. After the Liberal party won the election at the 2018 election, she was sworn in as

2020s

Chapman was additionally appointed Minister for Planning and Local Government on 29 July 2020. Chapman lost a vote of non-confidence as Deputy Premier in the South Australian Parliament on 18 November 2021 after a parliamentary inquiry found her

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

as Minister for Planning and Local Government and recommended for her to be found guilty of

contempt of parliament In countries with a parliamentary system of government, contempt of Parliament is the offence of obstructing the legislature in the carrying out of its functions, or of hindering any legislator in the performance of his duties. Typology The conce ...

for misleading the house. On 22 November 2021, she resigned as Deputy Premier and Minister for Planning and Local Government, and stepped down as Attorney-General while officially still holding the role and remaining in cabinet. On 3 May 2022, the Ombudsman's Report into the allegations exonerated Chapman of all wrongdoing, finding she had no conflict of interest. Chapman retained her seat in parliament 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 ...

, despite a swing against her party which resulted in a change of government. A month after the election, Chapman announced her intent to resign from parliament. She officially resigned on 31 May 2022, with her successor to be elected in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

on 2 July 2022.

Personal life

One of her children is Channel 7 reporter Alex Hart.

References

External links

Official website: vickiechapman.com.au