Beautiful Finniss

The electorate of Finniss is named after Travers Finniss (1807-93), who immigrated to South Australia in 1836 as one of Colonel Light's surveyors. In 1856 he became South Australia's first Prime Minister, or Premier as the office became known after Federation. Until 1993, the electorate was known as Alexandrina, and was the seat used by Dean Brown to re-enter state Parliament and win the Liberal leadership in 1992. The new boundaries introduced for the 1993 election detached Kangaroo Island from the electorate and included it in far distant Flinders, part of the attempt to try and introduce 'fairness' into the state's electoral boundaries. Strongly objected to by the locals, the decision was reversed before the 1997 election when Kangaroo Island returned to Finniss.  It is now one of the State’s largest electorates in area, covering approximately 5,917 square kilometres.

Finniss is without a doubt, one of the most beautiful and diverse locations in the state of South Australia.  Only a short drive from Adelaide, it includes the towns of Victor Harbor, Goolwa, Middleton, Port Elliot, Yankalilla, Normanville, Myponga, along with the towns of Penneshaw, Parndana and Kingscote on Kangaroo Island.

Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula are two of the State’s most significant food, wine and tourism regions.  Agriculture plays an important role in the livelihood of the area and includes dairy produce, wine, olives, fishing, beef, lamb and wool production.