Gallus Prime
Liberal MP for Hawker (1990–1993) and Hindmarsh (1993–2004); Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs; Parliamentary Secretary for Reconciliation and Foreign Affairs.
Christine Ann Gallus (born 6 April 1943) is an Australian former politician. She served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2004, representing two different seats in South Australia—the Division of Hawker from 1990 to 1993 and the Division of Hindmarsh from 1993 to 2004. She was born in Adelaide and was educated at the Firbank Girls' Grammar School in Melbourne, Flinders University and the Australian National University. She was a researcher with the South Australian Health Commission, an advertising executive, journalist and small business director before entering politics.
Lore & Background
Gallus was first elected to the seat of Hawker, based on Glenelg and the Holdfast Bay area, at the 1990 election, defeating one-term Labor incumbent Elizabeth Harvey on a razor-edge 50.01 percent two-party vote from a 1.2 percent two-party swing. Had at least 8 of 14 Australian Democrats supporters ranked Harvey higher than Gallus on next preferences, Harvey would have won. Hawker was abolished ahead of the 1993 federal election. Most of its territory, including Glenelg, was absorbed into neighbouring Hindmarsh, and Gallus opted to follow most of her constituents there.
Hindmarsh had long been a Labor stronghold, but had grown increasingly marginal over the last decade. Largely due to the addition of Holdfast Bay, Labor's already thin majority of 5.3 percent was pared back even further, to an extremely marginal 1.2 percent. Additionally, the election was called at a bad time for the state Labor government, which was still reeling from the collapse of the State Bank of South Australia. Indeed, the state Labor government would be heavily defeated at a state election later that year.
Gallus took a substantial first-count lead and ultimately won on the eighth count, becoming only the second non-Labor MP ever to win the seat and the first since 1917. To date, it is also the only time that Labor has been in government without holding Hindmarsh.
Reader's Guide
Gallus's political career is defined by her narrow victories and her role in the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy. She entered Parliament by winning Hawker with a 50.01 percent two-party vote. After Hawker was abolished, she won Hindmarsh on the eighth count, becoming only the second non-Labor MP to hold that seat since 1917. As Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, she attacked Minister Robert Tickner's credibility over the Hindmarsh Island bridge, moving a censure motion that prompted Paul Keating to call her 'Callous Gallus'.
That controversy was believed to have cost Tickner his seat in 1996. Despite her effectiveness, John Howard did not appoint her to the ministry. She later served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (2001) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs (2001–04). She retired in 2004, and her successor Simon Birmingham lost to Steve Georganas by 108 votes.
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