Deputy Vickie Chapman Majority 3.1% Succeeded by Vickie Chapman Preceded by District created Role Politician | Preceded by Mitch Williams Name Steven Marshall Preceded by Isobel Redmond Preceded by Vini Ciccarello | |
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Education University of South Australia Party Liberal Party of Australia Profiles | ||
Marshall: 'People of SA want Liberal government'
Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is an Australian politician and the current South Australian Leader of the Opposition. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the South Australian House of Assembly since 2010, representing the electorate of Dunstan (known as Norwood before 2014).
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He has been leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the opposition since February 2013. He had previously been the party's deputy leader from October 2012 to February 2013.
Early life
Marshall had lived in the Norwood area for most of his adult life before entering parliament. He attended Ethelton Primary School and Immanuel College, before studying business at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia). He completed an MBA at Durham University in the United Kingdom.
In 1997, Marshall's father retired from running the family business, Marshall Furniture, and Steven Marshall took on the role of managing director. While acting as managing director, the company won the South Australian small business prize in the national 2001 Employer of the Year awards, due to the company's commitment to hire people with disabilities. He continued running the firm until 2001, when mounting pressure from imports forced the family to sell the business to Steinhoff International. This led to a role on the Steinhoff Asia-Pacific board, which he then left in order to take on a number of different positions in the South Australian business sector, including chairman of Jeffries and general manager of Michell Pty Ltd.
Marshall served on the South Australian Manufacturing Industry Advisory Board prior to entering politics in 2010.
Parliament
Marshall entered parliament in the 2010 state election, winning the seat of Norwood, the seat once represented by former premier Don Dunstan, for the Liberal Party. In the December 2011 reshuffle of the opposition's front bench, Marshall was moved from the back bench to take on the shadow portfolios of industry and trade, defence industries, small business, science and information economy, environment and conservation, sustainability and climate change.
Marshall said in August 2012 that he would be willing to sign a pledge that he would not challenge Isobel Redmond for the Liberal Party leadership or Mitch Williams for the deputy leadership. On 19 October 2012, Martin Hamilton-Smith and Marshall declared a leadership spill against Redmond and Williams. A partyroom ballot occurred on 23 October 2012, Redmond retained the leadership by one vote, however Marshall was elected to the deputy leadership. Marshall was denied his preferred treasury portfolio by Redmond, but instead was given the health and economic development portfolios, while retaining his roles in industry and trade, defence, small business and science.
On 31 January 2013 after Redmond resigned as Leader of the Opposition, Marshall was speculated to become the new leader. At the ballot on 4 February 2013, Marshall was elected, unopposed, as Leader of the South Australian Liberal Parliamentary Party and Leader of the Opposition. A record, Marshall is the fifth Leader of the Opposition since their party lost office.
At the 2014 state election, Marshall contested Dunstan, essentially a reconfigured version of Norwood. Although the Liberals won a majority of the two-party vote, Labor's Jay Weatherill was able to form a minority government with the support of independent Geoff Brock. Marshall continued to lead the Liberals in opposition.
The July to September 2014 Newspoll saw Labor leading the Liberals on the two-party-preferred vote for the first time since 2009.
Following the 2014 Fisher by-election, Labor went from minority to majority government.
Personal life
Marshall has been active in community service and is currently on the Board of the Spastic Centre of South Australia and Compost for Soils. In 2001 he received a Centenary of Federation Medal for services to the disability sector.