Kyam Maher


Kyam Joseph Maher is an Australian politician appointed to a casual vacancy in the South Australian Legislative Council for the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party on 17 October 2012. He served in the Cabinet of South Australia between 2015 and 2018, and served as Leader of Government Business in the Legislative Council between 2016 and 2018.

Background

Maher is of Aboriginal descent. He grew up in Mount Gambier and attended Grant High School there. He does not consider that he experienced the disadvantage and racism that is common for many Aboriginal people in Australia. He left Mount Gambier to study law and economics at the University of Adelaide.
Maher was a lawyer and political staffer before becoming South Australian state secretary of the Australian Labor Party. In 2006, Maher was an inaugural committee member of the Progressive Labour Education Association Inc, a joint-venture training organisation operated by the ALP Socialist Left faction and aligned unions United Voice and the Australian Services Union.

Political career

Maher was appointed to the South Australian Legislative Council in 2012 to replace outgoing MLC Bob Sneath. Maher was re-elected from fourth position on the Labor ticket at the 2014 election.
In February 2015 he was appointed to cabinet and, between 2015 and the 2018 state election, Maher has served as minister in the Labor Weatherill Ministry in a range of portfolios including manufacturing and innovation, automotive transformation, Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation; and employment and science and information economy. Maher was the first Aboriginal South Australian Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.
On 18 January 2016 Maher was appointed as the Leader of Government Business in the Legislative Council in the Weatherill government.