| Kris Hanna | |
|---|---|
| Member for Mitchell in the South Australian House of Assembly | |
| In office 11 October 1997 – 20 March 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Colin Caudell |
| Succeeded by | Alan Sibbons |
| Constituency | Mitchell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1962 (age 49–50) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Labor 1997-2003 Greens 2003-2006 Independent 2006-2010 |
Kris Hanna (born 1962) was an Australian politician, and member for Mitchell in the South Australian House of Assembly from 1997 until 2010. Originally elected as a Labor member, Hanna defected to the SA Greens in 2003 before becoming an independent in 2006.
Before entering Parliament, Hanna practised law, primarily in the areas of injury litigation and criminal defence. Hanna served as a councillor for the City of Marion from 1995 to 1997.
While initially elected at the 1997 and 2002 election as a member of the Australian Labor Party, he defected to the SA Greens in early 2003. He ultimately resigned from the Greens on 8 February 2006 and ran in the 2006 election as an Independent and won, before losing at the 2010 election despite receiving a swing, due to narrowly finishing third after all non-major party preferences had been distributed. His chances of retaining his seat in 2006 had been essentially written off by most commentators after his decision to become an Independent, but won a surprise narrow victory after a very low Liberal primary vote and an endorsement from popular Independent Nick Xenophon.
Hanna sought to have his 2010 election loss overturned with the Supreme Court of South Australia, saying he fell victim to "misleading and defamatory" leaflets and posters distributed by the Australian Labor Party. The Supreme Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, ruled the leaflets - labelling Mr Hanna "soft on crime" - were defamatory and not factual, yet there was a right to express such opinions. The Supreme Court dismissed Hanna's case.[1]
During his time in Parliament, Hanna spoke on issues such as Australia's treatment of refugees, environmental matters, constitutional reform and what he believed to be the fallacies of 'tough law & order' policies. South Australia's fixed parliamentary terms of 4 years were as a result of amendments to the Constitution Act successfully moved by Mr Hanna.
Hanna also devoted much of his time to refugee advocacy. He was a member of the SA Parliament's Amnesty International sub-branch, and occasionally a lawyer for refugees. He helped establish the Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia Inc [1] (RASSA), and served on the RASSA executive.