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Tony Zappia

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Australian politician and powerlifter

Tony ZappiaMP
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Makin
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 November 2007
Preceded byTrish Draper
Mayor of Salisbury
In office
3 May 1997 – 21 December 2007
Preceded byDavid Plumridge
Succeeded byGillian Aldridge
Alderman of the Salisbury Council
In office
2 July 1977 – 21 December 2007
Preceded byseat established
Succeeded byBrian Goodall
ConstituencyPooraka
Personal details
BornAntonio Zappia
(1952-06-13) 13 June 1952 (age 72)
Platì, Reggio Calabria, Italy
CitizenshipAustralian
Italian (1952–1958)
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Children3
ResidencePooraka, South Australia
OccupationBusinessman, athlete
Websitetonyzappia.alp.org.au

Antonio "Tony" Zappia (Italian: [anˈtɔːnjo ddzapˈpiːa]; born 13 June 1952) is an Australian politician and former powerlifting champion. He has been an Australian Labor Party member for the House of Representatives seat of Makin in South Australia since the 2007 election.

Early life

Born in Platì, Italy, as a child Zappia moved with his family to Pooraka, where he attended primary school and Enfield High School. From 1969 he worked for ANZ Bank. From 1976 to 1980, Zappia was employed as a research officer to Senator Jim Cavanagh. Zappia was Mayor of the City of Salisbury from 1997 to 2007 and a Councillor from 1977.

Zappia has run three fitness centres. Zappia has also won ten National Championships in powerlifting.

Parliament

Zappia with Kelvin Thomson (centre) and Andrew Giles (right) in Parliament house in 2014

From Makin's creation ahead of the 1984 election, the seat was always marginal and held by the party of government, often typical of mortgage belt seats. However, Zappia defeated Liberal candidate Bob Day at the 2007 election with a 57.7 percent two-party vote from an 8.6-point two-party swing as Labor won government, the largest two-party vote and swing of any party in Makin's history at the time, and was also the first time a Makin candidate won a majority of the primary vote. At the 2010 election, Zappia technically made it a safe Labor seat with a 62.2 percent two-party vote, again becoming the largest of any party in Makin's history. Zappia held the seat at the 2013 election with a reduced 55.1 percent two-party vote even as Labor lost government, albeit still the largest two-party vote, aside from 2010 and 2007, of any party in Makin's history. No longer a bellwether for the first time, Zappia became the first opposition member in the seat's history.

In September 2023, Zappia joined a cross-party delegation of Australian MPs to Washington, D.C., to lobby the U.S. Department of Justice to abandon its attempts to extradite Australian publisher Julian Assange from the United Kingdom. The other members were Alex Antic, Barnaby Joyce, Monique Ryan, David Shoebridge, and Peter Whish-Wilson.

Personal life

Zappia lives in Pooraka with his wife Vicki and has three children.

References

  1. Lewis, Rosie; Hutchinson, Samantha (21 August 2017). "Bill Shorten won't produce UK citizenship renunciation proof". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. South Australian Government Gazette, 7 July 1977
  3. City of Salisbury - New Acting Mayor for Salisbury
  4. South Australian Government Gazette, 11 May 1995
  5. ^ Tony Zappia profile: ALP
  6. South Australian Government Gazette, 3 April 1997
  7. "Makin (Key Seat)". ABC: Elections. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
  8. Cannane, Steve (27 June 2024). "Inside the closed-door meeting in Washington DC to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange". ABC News. Retrieved 27 June 2024.

External links

Parliament of Australia
Preceded byTrish Draper Member for Makin
2007–present 		Incumbent
Current members of the Australian House of Representatives from South Australia
Labor (6)
Liberal (3)
Centre Alliance (1)
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