Peter Duncan

Peter Duncan was the Attorney-General in Don Dunstan's reforming Labor Government in South Australia in the 1970s and a minister and parliamentary secretary in both the Hawke and Keating governments. He initiated many pieces of social reform legislation, including the abolition of capital punishment, the recognition of de facto couples, making rape in marriage a crime (the first in the English-speaking world) and equal employment opportunity. Perhaps his most notable personal achievement was his Private Members' Bill on homosexual law reform, passed into law in 1975. He was one of the very few politicians to serve in a state parliament and in the federal parliament.