Peter Duncan (Australian politician)

Peter Duncan (born 1 January 1945) was an Australian Labor Party politician and one of the relatively few members of parliament not only to have served in both a state and national parliament, but to have served as a minister in both cases.

Peter Duncan was born in Melbourne, Victoria and went to the University of Adelaide where he studied law and was co-editor of the student newspaper On Dit in 1968. He was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly from the electorate of Elizabeth in the 1973 South Australian election, when he was 28 years old.cite web
title =The Hon. Peter Duncan
work =Australian Parliamentary Handbook online
publisher =Parliament of Australia
date =
url =http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?id=9861&table=BIOGS
accessdate =2009-09-13 ]

In state parliament Duncan served as a minister from 1975 until the defeat of the Corcoran Labor government at the 1979 election. He resigned from state politics in 1984 to contest the seat of Makin in the 1984 Australian election, which he held at every election until defeated when Labor lost office federally in 1996.

Duncan was Minister for Land Transport and Infrastructure Support for the last half of 1987, and Minister for Employment and Education Services for over three years from 1988 to 1990. He was then demoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General, a post he held until Labor lost office.

Duncan had a business career after politics, which became a source of controversy when he was charged in September 2007 with 'making an untrue statement in application for a Commonwealth grant and with dishonestly causing loss to a Commonwealth entity'. [ cite news
last =Riches
first =Sam
title =Peter Duncan arrested
publisher =AdelaideNow
date = 5 September 2007
url =http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22367289-5006301,00.html
accessdate = 2009-09-13 ] It was reported that this had occurred in the wake of the failure of his plastics recycling business Omnipol. [cite news
title =Former Hawke minister refused passport by court
publisher =ABC News
date = 12 September 2007
url =http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/12/2030703.htm
accessdate = 2009-09-13 ] He was subsequently ordered to stand trial on three counts in the South Australian District Court. [Pia Akerman, 'Hawke minister to stand trial on fraud charge', "The Australian", 31 October 2007]

Notes

Persondata
NAME = Duncan, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH = 1 January 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH = Melbourne
DATE OF DEATH = Living
PLACE OF DEATH =