Patrick Secker

Australian politician

Patrick Secker

Member of the Australian Parliament for Barker
In office 3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013
Preceded by	Ian McLachlan
Succeeded by	Tony Pasin

Personal details
Born	(1956-06-06) 6 June 1956 (age 67) Happy Valley, South Australia
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Alma mater	Flinders University
Occupation	Company Director

Patrick Damien "Pat" Secker (born 6 June 1956), Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Barker, South Australia.

Biography

Secker was born in Happy Valley, South Australia, and was educated at Flinders University, Adelaide gaining a degree in Economics and Politics. He was a primary producer, small business retailer and company director before entering politics. He was a member of the Meadows District Council 1981-83 and the Mt Barker District Council 1983–92.

Secker was Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy Chair of the National Capital and External Territories Joint Standing Committee of Parliament. He was Secretary of the Opposition backbench committee on Agriculture and Infrastructure as well as Chair of the Liberal Party Rural and Regional affairs Committee and a member of the Liberal Party Federal Executive and Federal Council.

Secker was booked by a police officer in April 2006 for tailgating a prime mover. He was accused of travelling half a second behind, Secker pleaded not guilty and asserted that he was travelling five seconds behind.^[1] In September 2007 he was found guilty of tailgating a prime mover by the Magistrates Court at Berri in the SA Riverland, given a $450 fine and lost one demerit point.^[2] It followed a speeding incident in 2005, at 17 km/h over the limit whilst overtaking a truck. In his defence, Secker stated:

I think I'm like most people and that's why I challenged that ruling is that when you pass a B-double you need to speed up. I think most people still do that on the basis that it's safer.^[3]

In a Liberal Party pre-selection ballot on 3 March 2012, Secker lost Liberal Party endorsement for the 2013 election to Mount Gambier lawyer Tony Pasin, only receiving 78 votes to his opponent's 164 votes.^[4]

He made his valedictory speech in parliament on 25 June 2013.^[5]

References

^ Secker tells court driving was safe: ABC News 28/8/07
^ Federal MP guilty of driving offence: ABC News 25/9/07
^ Secker promotes fuel efficient driving: ABC South East SA 27/6/08
^ Mt Gambier lawyer Tony Pasin wins pre-selection for Barker over Patrick Secker: Adelaide Now 03/03/12
^ House of Reopresentatives Hansard, 25 June 2013; Retrieved 14 August 2013