Dennis Hood

Dennis Garry Edward Hood (born 12 January 1970) is an Australian politician who began his political career as a member of the South Australian Legislative Council in 2006 on the Family First Party's ticket. In 2017, Family First merged into the Australian Conservatives and Hood joined the Liberal Party after the 2018 state election.

Early life and career
Dennis Hood was born in Woodside, South Australia, Australia and raised in Salisbury. In Hood's youth, his father held three jobs and his mother, who is blind, worked as a meat packer. Hood holds a Bachelor of Economics with honours in politics and philosophy and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the University of Adelaide.

Career
Prior to working in politics, Hood worked in pharmaceuticals as a financial executive for Johnson & Johnson. He became the Federal Director for the Family First Party in 2005 and ran for the South Australian Legislative Council the following year as their primary candidate. He was elected to the upper house in 2006 and, in February 2007, replaced Andrew Evans as the Family First Party's parliamentary leader. At this time, he was also serving as the party's treasurer and was a member of the Social Development Committee.

He was reelected in 2014 still on the Family First ticket but followed Robert Brokenshire to the Australian Conservatives when the two parties merged in 2017. Nine days after the 2018 state election, Hood defected to the Liberal Party following the Conservatives' extreme defeat, a move he was roundly criticised for. He claimed that the Liberal Party's platform overlapped significantly with his, while the Conservatives were too focused on federal issues and were likely to have "no impact" at the state level. Between 2020 and 2022, he was a government whip.

In 2016, he was Chair of the Committee of the South Australian Parliament and Member of the Legislative Council. In April 2020, he served on the South Australian Parliament's COVID-19 Response Committee. Hood generally subscribes to Keynesian economics.

Political stances

Crime
In 2014, Hood argued that the government overregulates people and that, while it has its purposes, it has become too large. In a similar vein, he suggested the removal of compulsory voting in 2009, claiming it undemocratic to force people to cast a vote. In 2008, he unsuccessfully pushed for stricter sentences for criminals' second offences. In 2013, he said that while "rehabilitation is a goal that should always be pursued,... public safety must be the absolute priority" and that punishing criminals should take precedence. In 2011, he introduced a law to increase police's powers to seize the computer of a convicted child molester without a court order for the purpose of examining its contents. The law also allowed judges to restrict pedophiles' internet usage. 

In 2017, he supported an anti-bullying bill based on Brodie's Law, which passed in Victoria in 2011. He said that existing anti-bullying approaches were insufficient and needed to be stricter. In 2018, he opposed the continuation of Safe Schools, a policy that reduced bullying of LGBTQ+ students and trained staff on how to deal with sexuality-based abuse. In 2010, he noted that the state coroner needed more resources to address the backlog in cases. The following year he also advocated for the creation of a police task force to address the backlog of unexecuted arrest warrants.

Sex and drugs
Hood's staunch anti-prostitution beliefs, which in 2011 he said were consistent with his Christian feminist positions, have remained stable throughout the years. In 2015, he believed that decriminalising prostitution would be akin to the government's encouragement and approval to partake in sex work. That same year, despite not supporting decriminalisation, Hood criticised the proposed bill for failing to adequately protect sex workers. In 2019, he again voted against decriminalisation.

In 2007, Hood was also opposed to providing sex ed to primary school children and in 2011 questioned the effectiveness of existing sex ed programs after the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections increased substantially within a year. He called for stricter messaging from schools about safe sex. He has also expressed dislike of sex ed courses that do not teach abstinence before marriage.

In 2008, Hood called for a review of the motion picture classification system, as he did not feel the Advertising Standards Board had properly screened out materials of "poor taste," including a liquor advertisement showing the exposed buttocks of three adult men. He also suggested DVDs of adult films and other restricted content be required to come in plain packaging.

Hood is also highly supportive of increased penalties for drug use. In 2007, he suggested tougher controls on the growing and possession of cannabis. Possession of commercial quantities ($40,000), he pointed out, would only incur a small fine (with a maximum of $500), which was an insufficient disincentive. He also rejected the idea of medical marijuana, saying the harm outweighs the therapeutic benefits. In 2010, he requested on-the-spot fines for users of heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy. He opposed the use of drugs while driving and in public, saying it is a threat to the welfare of residents, businesses, and the individuals themselves. Apart from increased fines, Hood also suggested pragmatic drug testing devices at hotels and nightclubs. In 2009, Hood proposed laws to adopt this stance by setting minimum, as opposed to maximum, sentences, which are rarely implemented by judges. In 2013, he expressed an interest in dramatically increasing fines for growing marijuana, with maximum penalties for up to five plants increasing from $100 to $2,000 and up to 19 plants from $2,000 to $10,000. He felt that this would be an effective deterrent. In 2014, he encouraged people to seek out the "less harmful" alternatives available rather than use marijuana.

Health
In 2011, Hood opposed the voluntary euthanasia legislation introduced by Steph Key, claiming it failed to provide sufficient corroborative evidence of the desire for suicide apart from the killer as the sole witness, and that the elderly and dying could be pressured into suicide if they felt that they became a burden on their family. In 2021, he reasserted this belief and suggested improving palliative care instead. He also rejected legislation permitting the cloning of human embryos on the grounds of technology already having the ability to create embryonic stem cells without using human embryos and eggs, thereby making the legislation unnecessary.

Family
Another of Hood's strong stances is opposition to both same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting. In 2011, he stated that legalising either would take away a child's right to having heterosexual parents. He reaffirmed both of these beliefs again in 2014 and in 2016 proposed an amendment allowing medical professionals to refuse reproductive assistance to same-sex couples and single people. Relatedly, Hood encourages the practice of adoption for heterosexual parents  and has criticised abortion rates, particularly when considering low fertility rates. In 2021, he again voted against the decriminalisation of abortion.

In 2008, Hood advocated for mandatory parental consent for children to get a body piercing and worked with John Rau to outlaw scarification for minors. Hood is a supporter of parents doling out non-sexual corporal punishment, namely spanking, to their children. To fight child abuse, he suggested pragmatic checks by agencies other than the Department of Human Services, which had been garnering dissatisfaction from South Australians at the time. In 2011, he submitted a bill that allowed parents more access to and control over their child's Facebook activity.

Misc
In 2007, Hood rejected the scrapping of parliamentary prayer, pointing out that the practice dated back to the Westminster system. He stated that these periods were useful for quiet introspection. In 2009, he rejected the Greens' call to name and shame religious schools that discriminate based on sexual orientation on their web site.

In 2007, Hood called for a ban of nudist beaches, citing his concern that children could be inadvertently exposed. In 2009, he promoted policies permitting the right to remove dangerous, sick and dying trees, and endorsed weekly garbage collection, which the Greens party strongly opposed. In 2011, he established a parliamentary committee to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social impacts of establishing marine parks off the coast of South Australia. He also supported the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval with some amendments.

Following the 2010 election, Hood worked with other politicians to improve funding for mental healthcare, disability support, child protection, and public housing.

Family and personal life
In 2006, Hood's wife Lisa gave birth to their daughter. He suffers from ankylosing spondylitis. Though his parents were not religious, Hood converted to Christianity at 19 and continues to attend church regularly.

Notes

External links

1970 births
Living people
21st-century Australian politicians
Australian Baptists
Australian Conservatives members
Converts to Baptist denominations
Family First Party politicians
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council
University of Adelaide alumni
People from South Australia
People with ankylosing spondylitis
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia