{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Andrew Southcott | honorific_suffix = | image = Andrew_Southcott.jpg | constituency_MP = Boothby | parliament = Australian | term_start = 2 March 1996 | term_end = 9 May 2016 | predecessor = Steele Hall | successor = Nicolle Flint | majority = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|10|15}} | birth_place = Panorama, South Australia | death_date = | death_place = | party = Liberal Party of Australia | relations = | spouse = Kate Southcott (née Simpson) | children = 2 | occupation = Medical practitioner | alma_mater = Flinders University<br />University of Adelaide | signature = | website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20081021050505/http://www.andrewsouthcott.com.au/ AndrewSouthcott.com.au] | footnotes = | branch = 25px Royal Australian Naval Reserve | rank = Lieutenant }}
'''Andrew John Southcott''' (born 15 October 1967) is an Australian politician and medical practitioner. He was the Liberal member for the House of Representatives seat of Boothby from the 1996 election until he stood down at the 2016 election.
==Early life== Southcott was born in Panorama, South Australia, and attended Paringa Park Primary School, and St Peter's College.
He studied medicine at University of Adelaide and was a medical practitioner before entering politics, serving as an intern and surgical trainee at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and as a surgical registrar at the Flinders Medical Centre and Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park. While in office he has completed a Bachelor of Economics at Flinders University and a Master of Business Administration at the University of Adelaide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.andrewsouthcott.com/Pages/AboutAndrew/aboutAndrewSouthcott.aspx |title=About - Andrew Southcott MP - Federal Member for Boothby |accessdate=2010-09-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218165723/http://www.andrewsouthcott.com/Pages/AboutAndrew/aboutAndrewSouthcott.aspx |archivedate=18 February 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
==Political career== Southcott joined the Liberal party in 1989 while serving as president of the Adelaide Medical Students Society. He defeated Senate leader and future Defence Minister Robert Hill, a moderate, in a pre-selection battle for the seat of Boothby in 1994. Southcott is from the conservative faction of the Liberal Party of Australia.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Parkin |first= Andrew |date=June 1998 |title= Australian Political Chronicle: July–December 1997 |journal= Australian Journal of Politics and History| volume = 44| issue =2|pages= 286–287 |issn=0004-9522 |doi=10.1111/1467-8497.00019}}</ref>
Southcott was elected to the House of Representatives seat of Boothby at the 1996 election and remained a backbencher throughout the Howard government.
{|class=wikitable |-align=right | Election in Boothby || 1996|| 1998|| 2001|| 2004|| 2007|| 2010|| 2013 |-align=right | First preference % ||53.4||48.2||47.9||50.6||46.3||44.8||51.1 |-align=right | Two-party-preferred % ||bgcolor="#61c3ff"|'''61.6'''||bgcolor="#80d8f9"|'''57.5'''||bgcolor="#80d8f9"|'''57.4'''||bgcolor="#a6e7ff"|'''55.4'''||bgcolor="#a6e7ff"|'''52.9'''||bgcolor="#a6e7ff"|'''50.8'''||bgcolor="#80d8f9"|'''57.7''' |}
At the 2004 election, despite a solid national two-party swing and vote to the Liberals, Boothby became a marginal Liberal seat for the first time in over half a century, with Labor's Chloë Fox reducing the Liberals to a marginal 5.4 percent two-party margin. Labor's Nicole Cornes reduced the Liberals to a marginal 2.9 percent two-party margin at the 2007 election, while at the 2010 election Labor's Annabel Digance reduced the Liberals to just a 0.75 percent two-party margin (638 votes), which put Boothby ahead of neighbouring Sturt as the most marginal seat in South Australia. However, Boothby became a fairly safe Liberal seat again at the 2013 election.
Southcott was a supporter of Republicanism in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s72500.htm |title=Four Corners - 10/27/1997: Battle Royal. Australian Broadcasting Corp<!-- Bot generated title --> |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=27 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403201428/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s72500.htm |archive-date=3 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Southcott was chair of the Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties from 2003 until 2007.<ref>[https://www.theage.com.au/news/national/indonesian-threat-to-block-envoy/2005/07/16/1121455936361.html Indonesian threat to block envoy - National - theage.com.au<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Following the Coalition's defeat at the 2007 election, Southcott was appointed by party leader Brendan Nelson to the Outer Shadow Ministry as Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, and Apprenticeships and Training.
Resulting from the ascendancy of Malcolm Turnbull at the 2008 Liberal leadership ballot, Southcott became Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Training and Sport.<ref>Coalition Shadow Ministry as at 22 September 2008, {{cite web|url=http://www.liberal.org.au/documents/CoaShadMinList.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-01-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010050221/http://www.liberal.org.au/documents/CoaShadMinList.pdf |archivedate=10 October 2008 }}</ref>
After the ascendancy of Tony Abbott at the 2009 Liberal leadership ballot, Southcott was dropped from the Outer Shadow Ministry and demoted to Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services, Health and Wellbeing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/biography.asp?id%3DTK6 |title=Parliament of Australia: House of Representatives - Members |accessdate=2010-08-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708003136/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/biography.asp?id=TK6 |archivedate=8 July 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref> Following the 2010 election, Southcott was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/parl/43/Shadow/index.htm |title=Department of the Parliamentary Library - Shadow Ministry |accessdate=2011-05-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917122739/http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/parl/43/Shadow/index.htm |archivedate=17 September 2010 }}</ref>
Resulting from the 2013 election where the Abbott government took office, Southcott was dropped and not included in the incoming Abbott ministry, returning to the backbench where he remained.
Following the resignation of Bronwyn Bishop, Southcott ran for the position of Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives in August 2015 but was unsuccessful.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-08/speakership-candidates-profiles/6682002 Meet the candidates vying for the big chair: ABC 8 August 2015]</ref><ref>[https://www.afr.com/news/politics/tony-smith-replaces-bronwyn-bishop-as-speaker-20150809-giv9se Tony Smith replaces Bronwyn Bishop as Speaker: Financial Review 10 August 2015]</ref>
===Parliamentary resignation=== On 4 September 2015, Southcott announced that he would retire from parliament at the 2016 election, and resume his medical career.<ref name=southcott>{{cite news|title=Liberal MP Andrew Southcott to stand down at next election|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/04/liberal-mp-andrew-southcott-to-stand-down-at-nextt-election|accessdate=4 September 2015|work=The Guardian|date=4 September 2015}}</ref> Southcott said his decision not to re-contest Boothby was "completely unrelated" to being unsuccessful in running for the Speakership.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-04/southcott-not-standing-at-next-federal-election-boothby/6748814 Veteran South Australian MP Andrew Southcott won't stand at next election: ABC 4 September 2015]</ref> The Liberals pre-selected doctoral student and newspaper columnist Nicolle Flint as their candidate in Boothby at the 2016 election.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-01/liberals-announce-nicolle-flint-as-its-boothby-candidate/6902666 Liberals announce Nicolle Flint as Boothby candidate in SA to replace veteran Andrew Southcott: ABC 1 November 2015]</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.andrewsouthcott.com/ Personal website] *[http://www.aph.gov.au/A_Southcott_MP Parliamentary Biography]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{s-bef|before=Steele Hall}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Boothby|years=1996–2016}} {{s-aft|after=Nicolle Flint}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southcott, Andrew}} Category:Politicians from Adelaide Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Boothby Category:University of Adelaide Medical School alumni Category:People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Category:Flinders University alumni Andrew Category:Australian MPs 1996–1998 Category:Australian MPs 1998–2001 Category:Australian MPs 2001–2004 Category:Australian MPs 2004–2007 Category:Australian MPs 2007–2010 Category:Australian MPs 2010–2013 Category:Australian MPs 2013–2016