Anastasious "Tom" Koutsantonis is an Australian politician in the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, representing the seats of West Torrens (2002−current) and Peake (1997−2002) as a Labor member in 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 ...

. He served as

Treasurer of South Australia The Treasurer of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for the financial management of that state's budget sector. The Urban Renewal Authority, trading as Renewal SA, lies within the T ...

and minister for other portfolios in the Weatherill cabinet between 2011 and 2018. Since March 2022 Koutsantonis has served as the

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by following the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022. The Minister for Regio ...

and the Minister for Energy and Mining in the

Malinauskas ministry The Malinauskas ministry is the 74th and current ministry (cabinet) of the Government of South Australia, led by Peter Malinauskas of the South Australian Labor Party. It was formed after Labor's victory at the 2022 state election and succeede ...

Background

A Greek-Australian, Koutsantonis was born 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 ...

and attended Netley Primary School and

Adelaide High School Adelaide High School is a coeducational state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Parklands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government high school in South Australi ...

. As a student 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 ...

he became involved in Australian Young Labor, drove taxis and went on to run a small business before becoming an industrial officer for the

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is the largest private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in every state and territory. Its membership is pre ...

(SDA) in the 1990s.

Parliament

Koutsantonis was elected to the seat of Peake (now West Torrens) at the 1997 election on a margin of 4.5 points, then by 8.6 points at the 2002 election, and by 18.3 points at the 2006 election, after which Koutsantonis was elevated to the chairmanship of the economic and advisory committee. In 2009, he was appointed to cabinet; Koutsantonis has served in a range of ministerial portfolios with responsibility for finance, state development, mineral resources and energy, small business, ministerial resources and energy, and for road safety, where Koutsantonis was forced to apologise for his "unacceptable" driving record which listed 58 traffic offences and over $10,000 in fines. He subsequently resigned the road safety portfolio. Following the retirement of Liberal's

Rob Lucas Robert Ivan Lucas (born 7 June 1953) is a former Australian politician and a former member of the South Australian Legislative Council between the 1982 election and the 2022 election, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal ...

at the 2022 state election, which Labor won, Koutsantonis became the longest serving member of the South Australian Parliament. His long-serving parliamentary service was recognised by Labor leader

Peter Malinauskas Peter Bryden Malinauskas ( ; born 14 August 1980) is an Australian politician, serving as the 47th and current premier of South Australia since March 2022. He has been the leader of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party (AL ...

in his victory speech on election night. After the election, Malinauskas appointed Koutsantonis as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Minister for Energy and Mining.

References

External links

Parliamentary Profile: SA Labor website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Koutsantonis, Tom Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Labor Right politicians Australian people of Greek descent 1971 births Living people Treasurers of South Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Politicians from Adelaide People educated at Adelaide High School