Michael Atkinson (politician)

The Honourable
Michael Atkinson
34th Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly
In office
5 February 2013 (2013-02-05) – 16 March 2018 (2018-03-16)
PremierJay Weatherill
Preceded byLyn Breuer
Succeeded byVincent Tarzia
46th Attorney-General of South Australia
In office
5 March 2002 – 30 June 2003
PremierMike Rann
Preceded byRobert Lawson
Succeeded byPaul Holloway
In office
29 August 2003 – 21 March 2010
PremierMike Rann
Preceded byPaul Holloway
Succeeded byJohn Rau
Member of the South Australian Parliament
for Croydon
In office
9 February 2002 – 17 March 2018
Preceded byNew District
Succeeded byPeter Malinauskas
Member of the South Australian Parliament
for Spence
In office
25 November 1989 – 9 February 2002
Preceded byRoy Abbott
Succeeded byDistrict Abolished
Personal details
Born
Michael John Atkinson

(1958-06-17) 17 June 1958 (age 66)[1]
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party (SA)
Domestic partnerJennifer Rankine
EducationBA (Hons), LLB
ProfessionJournalist

Michael John Atkinson (born 17 June 1958), a former Australian politician in the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, was a member of the Parliament of South Australia from 1989 to 2018.[2]

Atkinson was the 34th Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly in the Jay Weatherill government from 2013 to 2018. Before this post, he was the 46th Attorney-General of South Australia, Minister for Justice, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the Mike Rann Labor Government. A day after the 2010 election, he stepped down as Attorney-General and resigned from the Cabinet. Atkinson represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Croydon from the seat's creation in 2002 until 2018, and previously Spence from 1989 until the seat was abolished and replaced by Croydon in 2002.[3][4]

He was a member of the Australian Journalists Association whilst working for the Adelaide Advertiser. He is currently a member of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association.

  1. ^ Who's Who in Australia 2008. 2008. p. 164.
  2. ^ "New parliamentary speaker Michael Atkinson criticised for partisan tweets". AdelaideNow. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  3. ^ Kelton, Greg (22 March 2010). "Attorney-General Michael Atkinson quits front bench". The Advertiser. AdelaideNow. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Michael Atkinson – Member and Candidate for Croydon". Australian Labor Party South Australian Branch. Retrieved 2 March 2010.