Joe Scalzi
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe "Joe" Scalzi is a former Australia
n politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia
member of the South Australian House of Assembly
between 1993 and 2006, representing the electorate of Hartley
.
Scalzi was a high school teacher before entering parliament. In 1993, he was elected amidst the Liberal landslide victory that year, which saw Dean Brown
become Premier. Scalzi very narrowly retained his seat despite an 11.7 percent swing at the 1997 election reducing him to a margin of 0.7 percent. At the 2002 election, Scalzi had to defend the most marginal Liberal seat in the state, but managed to increase his margin to 1.3 percent.
Despite this Scalzi remained a "fairly low-key figure" only obtaining a position as a parliamentary secretary in April 2004 when he became secretary for training.
Scalzi took an interest in multicultural affairs. Joe Scalzi criticized South Australian premier Mike Rann
for describing a Labor
candidate, and future Member for Hartley Grace Portolesi, as coming from a "good Italian family" asking "What is the Premier actually implying? ... I say to the Premier: you are not Don Dunstan
; you are the great pretender, and you can no longer put smoke over people's eyes."
He was also one of a small number of Liberals to support a bill the cut the number of pokies in South Australia
by 20 percent.
Joe Scalzi was a member of the public works committee that in 2001, made the deeply unpopular decision to sell the Payneham Civic Centre to JPMorgan Chase whereupon it was demolished and the land was used as the site for offices for financial services despite protests by residents.
Scalzi lost his seat in the 2006 election landslide to the ALP
, giving his Labor opponent Grace Portolesi
a 4.6 percent margin. He failed to regain the seat at the 2010 election.
From 2006 he returned to work as a high school
teacher, now teaching at Glenunga International High School
where he teaches SOSE
.
His son, Joel Scalzi, a member of the young Liberals, was a contestant on the 2007 season of Big Brother
. When asked how far his son would make it on Big Brother he replied, in reference to his own short stature "I always knew my son would make it on to the shortlist".
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
member of the South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
between 1993 and 2006, representing the electorate of Hartley
Electoral district of Hartley
Hartley is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after John Hartley, a public servant responsible for creating much of South Australia's public education system...
.
Scalzi was a high school teacher before entering parliament. In 1993, he was elected amidst the Liberal landslide victory that year, which saw Dean Brown
Dean Brown
Dean Craig Brown, AO was the Liberal Premier of South Australia between 14 December 1993 and 28 November 1996, and Deputy Premier of South Australia between 22 October 2001 and 5 March 2002 to Rob Kerin.-Political career:...
become Premier. Scalzi very narrowly retained his seat despite an 11.7 percent swing at the 1997 election reducing him to a margin of 0.7 percent. At the 2002 election, Scalzi had to defend the most marginal Liberal seat in the state, but managed to increase his margin to 1.3 percent.
Despite this Scalzi remained a "fairly low-key figure" only obtaining a position as a parliamentary secretary in April 2004 when he became secretary for training.
Scalzi took an interest in multicultural affairs. Joe Scalzi criticized South Australian premier Mike Rann
Mike Rann
Michael David Rann MHA, CNZM , Australian politician, served as the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party to minority government at the 2002 election, before attaining a landslide win at the 2006 election...
for describing a Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
candidate, and future Member for Hartley Grace Portolesi, as coming from a "good Italian family" asking "What is the Premier actually implying? ... I say to the Premier: you are not Don Dunstan
Don Dunstan
Donald Allan "Don" Dunstan, AC, QC was a South Australian politician. He entered politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, became state Labor leader in 1967, and was Premier of South Australia between June 1967 and April 1968, and again between June 1970 and February 1979.The son of a business...
; you are the great pretender, and you can no longer put smoke over people's eyes."
He was also one of a small number of Liberals to support a bill the cut the number of pokies in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
by 20 percent.
Joe Scalzi was a member of the public works committee that in 2001, made the deeply unpopular decision to sell the Payneham Civic Centre to JPMorgan Chase whereupon it was demolished and the land was used as the site for offices for financial services despite protests by residents.
Scalzi lost his seat in the 2006 election landslide to the ALP
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, giving his Labor opponent Grace Portolesi
Grace Portolesi
Grace Portolesi is a South Australian politician and Labor member for the electoral district of Hartley, having won the seat at the 2006 state election...
a 4.6 percent margin. He failed to regain the seat at the 2010 election.
From 2006 he returned to work as a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
teacher, now teaching at Glenunga International High School
Glenunga International High School
Glenunga International High School is a publicly-funded school in Adelaide, South Australia. It is located approximately four km south-east of the Adelaide city centre in the suburb of Glenunga, between L'Estrange St and Conyngham St, adjoining the major thoroughfare Glen Osmond Road...
where he teaches SOSE
Sose
Sose or SOSE may refer to:*Social sciences, also called Studies of Society and Environment*Sose Mayrig, Armenian female fedayee*Service-oriented Software Engineering*Sins of a Solar Empire, a video game*System of systems engineering...
.
His son, Joel Scalzi, a member of the young Liberals, was a contestant on the 2007 season of Big Brother
Big Brother Australia 2007
Big Brother Australia 2007 was the seventh season of the Australian reality television series Big Brother Australia. Episodes were broadcast on Network Ten in Australia, and the first episode aired on 22 April 2007...
. When asked how far his son would make it on Big Brother he replied, in reference to his own short stature "I always knew my son would make it on to the shortlist".