Peter Duncan (born 1 January 1945) is an

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 ...

politician and one of the relatively few members of parliament to have served not only in both a state and national parliament but also as a minister in both cases. Peter Duncan was born in

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and went to 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 ...

, where he studied law and was co-editor of the student newspaper ''

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'' in 1968. He was elected to 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 South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

from the electorate of

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in the 1973 South Australian election, when he was 28. In state parliament Duncan served as 41st

Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...

from 1975 until 1979, and then as Minister for Health until the defeat of the Corcoran Labor government at the 1979 election. He resigned from state politics in 1984, sparking an Elizabeth by-election, to contest the seat of Makin in the 1984 Australian election, which he held at every election until defeated when Labor lost office federally in 1996. Duncan was Minister for Land Transport and Infrastructure Support for the last half of 1987 and Minister for Employment and Education Services for over three years from 1988 to 1990. After leaving the ministry in 1990, he became Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General in December 1991, a post he held until Labor lost office. Duncan had a business career after politics, which became a source of controversy when he was charged in September 2007 with 'making an untrue statement in application for a Commonwealth grant and with dishonestly causing loss to a Commonwealth entity'. It was reported that this had occurred in the wake of the failure of his

plastic recycling Plastic recycling is the reprocessing of plastic waste into new products. When performed correctly, this can reduce dependence on landfill, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. A ...

business Omnipol. He was subsequently ordered to stand trial on three counts in the South Australian District Court. Duncan went on trial on 3 November 2008, pleading not guilty. On 11 November, he was acquitted on all charges.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Peter 1945 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Makin Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia University of Adelaide alumni Attorneys-General of South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia