Nick Xenophon

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Hon. Nick Xenophon

Nick Xenophon (born 1959 in Adelaide) is a prominent South Australian politician, barrister and anti-gambling campaigner.

1 Pre-political life
2 Political career
- 2.1 2006 election
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Pre-political life

Xenophon attained his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide in 1981, and in 1984 established and became principal of his own law firm, Xenophon & Co., that deals solely with personal injury claims. In this field he became successful, and between 1994 and 1997 he served as president of the South Australian branch of the Australian Plaintiff Lawyers' Association.

[edit] Political career

After legislation was passed by the Bannon Government in 1992 that saw the introduction of slot machines or 'pokies' into South Australia in 1994, the increased incidence of problem gambling came to Xenophon's attention in his legal practice. At the 1997 South Australian election, Xenophon stood for the South Australian Legislative Council under a No Pokies ticket, advocating the reduction and abolition of pokies. He received 2.9% of the vote^[1] which, combined with preferences from other parties, made him the first Independent ever elected to the Upper House.

During his time as a sitting member, Xenophon has been an activist for a range of issues aside the elimination of pokies, speaking out on essential services, the environment, taxation and perks for politicians. He is best known for his many media-friendly publicity stunts that have gained him both deep respect and ardent criticism. Xenophon has also suffered severe health difficulties that at one stage forced him to take leave.

[edit] 2006 election

Xenophon stood again for 2006 election amid media speculation that he would struggle to be re-elected with the major parties preferencing against him. Despite this, he ran an aggressive campaign described by some commentators as 'anti-political' and received over 20% of the vote, enough to not only to re-elect himself, but also to elect the second No Pokies candidate, Ann Bressington.

The result was unprecedented in Australian political history; an Independent had never before been so significantly endorsed statewide. His Legislative Council vote of 20.5% was just 5.5% less[2] than the result recorded by the Liberal Party, one of the two major parties. Labor MP Michael Atkinson is even quoted as saying that some polling booths in his electorate had Xenophon polling higher than the Liberals. This series of events led some commentators to call Xenophon the new "third force" in South Australian politics.