Kris Hanna
| Kris Hanna | |
|---|---|
| 5th Mayor of Marion | |
|
Assumed office 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Felicity-Ann Lewis |
| Member for Mitchell in the South Australian House of Assembly | |
|
In office 11 October 1997 – 20 March 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Colin Caudell |
| Succeeded by | Alan Sibbons |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1962 (age 53–54) |
| Nationality |
Australian  |
| Political party |
Labor 1997-2003 Greens 2003-2006 Independent 2006-2010 |
Kris Hanna (born 1962) is an Australian politician, and former member for Mitchell in the South Australian House of Assembly from 1997 until 2010. Originally elected as a member of the Australian Labor Party, Hanna joined the SA Greens in 2003 before becoming an independent member in 2006.
Before entering Parliament, Hanna practised law. He also served as a Councillor for the City of Marion from 1995 to 1997. He returned to practicing law in 2010 and, in 2014 was elected unopposed as Mayor of the City of Marion.
Hanna is currently on the Board of Victim Support Service, and is Patron of numerous local sporting clubs. He was the longest-serving member of the Seaview High School Governing Council and had been President of Friends of Glenthorne and the Reynella Business & Tourism Association.[1]
While initially elected at the 1997 and 2002 elections as a member of the Labor Party, he moved to the Greens in early 2003. He ultimately resigned from the Greens on 8 February 2006 and ran in the 2006 election as an independent and won. His chances of retaining his seat in 2006 had been essentially written off by most commentators after his decision to become an Independent MP, but he won a narrow victory after a very low Liberal primary vote and an endorsement from popular Independent MP Nick Xenophon. He narrowly lost at the 2010 election despite an improved vote, due to finishing third after all non-major party preferences had been distributed.
Hanna sought to have his 2010 election loss overturned by the Supreme Court of South Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, saying he fell victim to "misleading and defamatory" leaflets and posters distributed by the Labor Party. The court ruled the leaflets - labelling Hanna "soft on crime" - were defamatory and not factual, yet there was a right to express such opinions. The court dismissed Hanna's case.[2]
Hanna unsuccessfully re-contested the seat of Mitchell at the 2014 election.[3]
Some of the local issues Hanna was known to campaign for were: upgrading the Oaklands rail crossing, making Glenthorne a forested recreational park, and turning the old O’Halloran Hill TAFE site into a high school.[4]