Tony Piccolo

{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{about|Tony Piccolo, the politician|the fictional character|Tony Piccolo (seaQuest DSV)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Tony Piccolo | honorific_suffix = | image = Tony Piccolo.png | image_size = | caption = | order1 = | office1 = Deputy Speaker Chairman of Committees | term_start1 = 3 May 2022 | term_end1 = 2026 | predecessor1 = Peter Treloar | successor1 = | term_start2 = 8 November 2011 | term_end2 = 21 January 2013 | predecessor2 = Chloë Fox | successor2 = Frances Bedford | office3 = Minister for Disabilities | term_start3 = 21 January 2013 | term_end3 = 19 January 2016 | predecessor3 = Ian Hunter | successor3 = Leesa Vlahos{{cisb|Other Roles (2013–2016)|titlestyle=background-color:#eee}} | office4 = Minister for Correctional Services Minister for Emergency Services Minister for Police Minister for Road Safety | term_start4 = 26 March 2014 | term_end4 = 19 January 2016 | predecessor4 = Michael O'Brien | successor4 = Peter Malinauskas | office10 = Minister for Volunteers Minister for Youth Minister for Social Housing Minister for Social Inclusion | term_start10 = 21 January 2013 | term_end10 = 26 March 2014 | predecessor10 = Ian Hunter | successor10 = Zoe Bettison{{cise}} | constituency_AM12 = Light | assembly12 = South Australian House of | term_start12 = 18 March 2006 | term_end12 = 20 March 2026 | predecessor12 = Malcolm Buckby | successor12 = James Agness | office13 = Mayor of Gawler | term_start13 = 6 May 2000 | term_end13 = March 2006 | predecessor13 = Bruce Eastick | successor13 = Helena Dawkins | office14 = Councillor for the Town of Gawler | term_start14 = 4 May 1985 | term_end14 = March 2006 | predecessor14 = | successor14 = | office15 = Councillor on the District Council of Munno Para | term_start15 = 3 October 1981 | term_end15 = 7 October 1985 | predecessor15 = | successor15 = | birth_name = Antonio Piccolo | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1960|2|22}} | birth_place = Naples, Italy | death_date = | death_place = | party = Labor Party | spouse = | relations = | children = 3 | alma_mater = University of Adelaide (BEc) Flinders University (MEdM){{citation needed|date=May 2025}} | occupation = | profession = Business manager | signature = | footnotes = | website = {{URL|http://www.tonypiccolo.org}} }} '''Antonio "Tony" Piccolo''' (born 22 February 1960{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}) is a former Australian Labor politician who represented Light in the South Australian House of Assembly from 2006 until his defeat at the 2026 election. He served as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, from 2011 to 2013 and again from 2022 to 2026.<ref name="SA parl">{{Cite SA-parl |pid=3123 |name=Antonio (Tony) Piccolo |former= |access-date=12 November 2022}}</ref>

==Early life== Piccolo was born in Naples, Italy, and emigrated to Australia in 1963 with his parents. He was educated at Evanston Primary School, Gawler High School and the University of Adelaide, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics.<ref name="alpsa">{{cite web|title=Tony Piccolo – Member for Light|url=http://sa.alp.org.au/alp/state-mps/tony-piccolo|publisher=Australian Labor Party|access-date=25 January 2018}}</ref>

He was elected to the District Council of Munno Para in 1981, then became a councillor for the Town of Gawler from 1985 to 2006, serving as deputy mayor with a few short breaks from 1989 to 2000 and as mayor from 2000 to 2006.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==Parliament== [[File:2010 0119 Tour Down Under Murray Street Gawler (9) (19332572883).jpg|right|thumb |alt=Five men standing | Federal MHR Nick Champion, SA Premier Mike Rann, Gawler Mayor Brian Sambell, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Piccolo in Gawler for the Tour Down Under in 2010.]] Piccolo won Light at the 2006 election with a 52.1 percent two-party-preferred vote from a swing of 4.9 points against the incumbent Liberal member, Malcolm Buckby. He was only the second Labor member ever to win this traditionally conservative seat, and the first in 62 years. The only other Labor MP ever to win it was Sydney McHugh, who held it from 1941 to 1944 and had earlier held the federal seat of Wakefield.

This was actually Piccolo's third attempt to win the seat. He'd previously run in 1985 and 1989, losing heavily both times to Liberal incumbent and former state opposition leader Bruce Eastick. By 2006, however, the seat had been pushed further into Labor-friendly territory in Adelaide's outer northern suburbs, turning it from an entirely rural seat into a hybrid urban-rural seat.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Piccolo increased his vote to 55.3 percent at the 2010 election and became the first Labor MP to be re-elected to Light. Piccolo's victory ran counter not only to the statewide trend, but decades of voting patterns in the seat. On paper, Light was Labor's most marginal seat, and would have been one of the first to be lost to the Liberals in the event of a uniform swing large enough to bring about a change of government. Piccolo's victory was critical to allowing Labor to retain a bare majority of two seats even as it lost the two-party vote.

Light was redistributed significantly ahead of the 2014 election, but Piccolo retained the seat, again against the statewide trend with an unchanged two-party vote of 52.8 percent. In 2018, Piccolo took 59.9 percent of the two-party vote, just on the edge of making Light a safe Labor seat. This came even as Labor lost government, marking only the second time that the Liberals or their predecessors, the Liberal and Country League, had been in government without holding Light.

Piccolo's factional alignment within the Labor party changed during his time in office. In 2010, Piccolo was aligned with the Labor Left faction.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/left-mp-tony-piccolo-refuses-to-back-move-on-rights-kevin-foley/story-e6frgczx-1225844277239|title = Left MP Tony Piccolo refuses to back move on Right's Kevin Foley|last = Owen|first = Michael|date = 2016-01-25|access-date = 2016-01-25|newspaper = The Australian}}</ref> At the time of his appointment to the ministry in 2013, he had switched from the Left faction to the Right following a "factional deal".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Piccolo resigns from cabinet |url=http://indaily.com.au/politics/2016/01/12/exclusive-piccolo-resigns-from-cabinet/ |access-date=2016-01-25 |website=InDaily |language=en-US}}</ref> At the time of his resignation from cabinet he remained aligned with the Right.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/south-australian-mp-tony-piccolo-resigns-from-ministry-ahead-of-cabinet-reshuffle/news-story/e1ed557c3a6d03c962626530e8b1e757|title = South Australian MP Tony Piccolo resigns from ministry ahead of cabinet reshuffle|last = Novak|first = Lauren|date = 2016-01-12|access-date = 2016-01-25}}</ref>

==Minister== right|thumb|140px|Piccolo in 2013 From 2013 to 2016, he served in nine various ministerial portfolios at different times in the Weatherill Labor cabinet – Disabilities, Youth, Volunteers, Communities and Social Inclusion, Social Housing, Police, Correctional Services, Emergency Services, and Road Safety.<ref name="SA parl"/> He announced his resignation from cabinet on 12 January 2016, citing cabinet renewal, and confirmed he intended to re-contest his seat at the 2018 election.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Donnellan |first=Angelique |date=2016-01-12 |title=Tony Piccolo resigns as South Australian Police Minister ahead of Cabinet reshuffle |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/sa-police-minister-tony-piccolo-resigns-from-cabinet/7083472 |access-date=2022-11-13}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-sa-la}} {{s-bef|before=Malcolm Buckby}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Light|years=2006–2026}} {{s-aft|after=James Agness}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piccolo, Tony}} Category:1960 births Category:21st-century Australian politicians Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Category:Deputy mayors of places in South Australia Category:Italian emigrants to Australia Category:Living people Category:Mayors of places in South Australia Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Category:South Australian local councillors