John Scott (Australian politician)

John Scott
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Hindmarsh
In office
18 October 1980  8 February 1993
Preceded by Clyde Cameron
Succeeded by Christine Gallus
Personal details
Born (1934-03-31) 31 March 1934
Hamilton, Scotland
Nationality Scottish Australian
Political party Australian Labor Party
Occupation Trade unionist

John Lynden Scott (born 31 March 1934) is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1980 to 1993.

Scott was born in Hamilton, Scotland. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1958. After emigrating to Australia, he became active in the trade union movement, serving as a member of the Amalgamated Metal Workers and Shipwrights Union council from 1969 to 1980.

When longtime Labor power broker Clyde Cameron announced his retirement ahead of the 1980 federal election, Scott was elected his successor in the north Adelaide seat of Hindmarsh. Scott was subsequently re-elected to the same seat at the 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990 elections. His seat had long been one of the safest Labor seats in the country, but demographic change made the seat substantially less safe for Labor. As a result, Scott's margins were nowhere near as large as the ones Cameron had tallied over the previous 31 years.

A redistribution ahead of the 1993 federal election cut Scott's already slim majority in Hindmarsh by more than half. Additionally, the writs were dropped at a bad time for the South Australian state Labor government, which was hobbled by a massive debt load brought on by the collapse of the State Bank of South Australia. With these factors in mind, Scott retired at the end of his fifth term.

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Clyde Cameron
Member for Hindmarsh
1980–1993
Succeeded by
Christine Gallus


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