Hi, I'm Mark Parnell and since 2006 I've worked for you in the South Australian Parliament on what I like to call "Advancing The Green Project" - making SA a fairer, cleaner, greener and more inclusive State.
It's a long way from my early days as a young country lawyer working on divorces and share-farming agreements! I gave the law away in the late 1980s when my boss tried to get me to specialise in tax minimisation schemes. Not my idea of a worthwhile career.
But, I came back to legal practice in the 1990s as South Australia's only public interest environmental lawyer. That was one of the best jobs. I only had to represent the good guys and at the end, there were no time sheets and no bills to send.
Now as a legislator, it comes in handy to know a bit about statutes and regulations. What I found after 16 years working for conservation groups was that the real action was where the laws were made.
I'm now on my second 8-year term in the Parliament.