Michael Pengilly

Michael Redding Pengilly (born 13 June 1950, in Kangaroo Island) is an Australian politician who took over from retiring sitting member and former Premier Dean Brown in the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Finniss at the 2006 election, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia.

Pengilly is a resident of Victor Harbor, and was formerly the mayor of Kangaroo Island as well as chairman of the SA Country Fire Service Board from 1995 to 2000. He was also the chairman of the Hills Mallee and Southern Regional Health Service Board for 8 years. The 2006 election saw Pengilly elected with a two-party margin of 6.5 percent, 9.1 percent less than under Dean Brown. Pengilly recovered 5.8 percent of the two-party vote at the 2010 election.

Pengilly controversially labelled Prime Minister Julia Gillard a "dog" on social media site Twitter on 24 November 2011 following her increased parliamentary numbers in the House of Representatives. He was at risk of losing Liberal preselection for his seat of Finniss. In March the following year he remarked in Parliament that Transport Minister Chloe Fox "ought to be put down, fair dinkum" further jeopardising his preselection chances. The Fox comment was the latest in a series of at least four gaffes.

Pengilly has also supported the prospect of seal culling in South Australia in defense of the interests of the fishing industry. In 2015 he said of the animals:

...
Wikipedia