Ian Hunter (politician)
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The Honourable Ian Hunter BSc (Hons), MLC |
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| Member of the South Australian Legislative Council | |
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Assumed office 18 March 2006 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Ian Keith Hunter 23 September 1960 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party (SA) |
| Spouse(s) | Leith Semmens (m. 2012) |
| Alma mater | Flinders University |
| Occupation | Medical research assistant Government advisor Labor state secretary |
| Website | SA Parliamentary Profile |
Ian Keith Hunter (born 23 September 1960) is an Australian politician, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party in the South Australian Legislative Council since the 2006 state election. Hunter has served in the Cabinet of South Australia since October 2011. In October 2011 Hunter was elevated to Cabinet.
Hunter grew up in the suburb of Holden Hill in Adelaide's North-East. He was educated at Gilles Plains High School and graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Science (Honours), majoring in Microbiology and Genetics. Throughout university he worked as a Youth Worker at the Child Youth Support Service in Norwood.
Hunter was active in community politics at university, becoming president of the Flinders University Gay Society and later going on to help found the South Australian AIDS Action Committee. He was involved in a variety of campaigns in the LGBT community, including a successful move to have sexuality included as a grounds for discrimination in 1986.
Following his graduation Hunter worked as a research assistant in the Department of Clinical Immunology at the Flinders Medical Centre, later serving as an advisor to the federal government and as Labor South Australian State Secretary.
Hunter was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council at the 2006 state election at fourth position on the Labor ticket, and at the 2014 state election he was re-elected at second position on the Labor ticket.
He used his maiden speech to outline his commitment to social justice issues and education as a force for progressive change, and attacked the push for the teaching of Intelligent Design as "fundamentalist dogma dressed up as science". He also reflected on his political life in the Australian Labor Party, recalling his step-father's advice that "Labor stood for the working people and the Liberals stood for the rich", and saying, "in all my years since then I have not seen anything to refute his approach to politics".
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