Legh Davis

Legh Davis
Member of the South Australian Legislative Council
In office 31 July 1979 (1979-07-31) – 9 February 2002 (2002-02-09)
Personal details
Born	Legh Hewitson Davis (1940-09-19) 19 September 1940 Adelaide, South Australia
Political party	Liberal Party
Alma mater	Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Bachelor of Economics, University of South Australia
Occupation	Public Servant, Politician
Profession	Investment Adviser, Lecturer

Legh Hewitson Davis (born 19 September 1940) is a former Australian politician and past President of the Liberal Party of South Australia. Davis was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council as a member of the Liberal Party in 1979, serving until his retirement at the State Election in February 2002. During his parliamentary tenure, Davis held the position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council between 1985-89 and acted as the party spokesman across several portfolio areas including, finance, arts, small business issues and ethnic affairs. Davis also served as the presiding member of the Statutory Authorities Review Committee.

Education

Davis attended Prince Alfred College, where he completed his secondary school education in 1957. He graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Economics in 1961 and later obtained a Bachelor of Law in 1965.

Career

After graduating University, Davis became an active member of the Young Liberal Movement of Australia. From 1966 to 1969, he served as State President and under his leadership, Davis was credited with providing “a renewed sense of direction and coordination to the Young Liberal Movement and thus membership substantially increased”. In 1970 Davis became Federal Chairman of the movement and held the position until 1972.

In 1974, Davis joined the Law and Economics faculty at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia), where he lectured for four years in both disciplines.

In 1978 Davis joined national sharebroker A C Goode & Co, as an investment adviser, and was later appointed State Manager of the firm, he remained there until 1990.

In 1979, Davis was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council and remained there until 2002. He served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council from 1985 to 1989. During his tenure in Parliament, Davis was Shadow Minister for the Arts from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1991 to 1992. Davis held numerous other shadow ministerial portfolios, including Housing and Construction, Finance, The Ageing, Small Business, Forests, Ethnic Affairs, and Corporate Affairs.