Frank Pangallo MLC

Frank Pangallo was elected to the Legislative Council at the 2018 state election.

He was born, raised and educated in Adelaide’s western suburbs to Italian Australian immigrant parents who worked hard to give their children the opportunities they did not have.

He has been married to Angela for 25 years and is a father of three, and a grandfather.

Frank has brought to his role as an elected member of the South Australian Parliament, an in-depth understanding of the issues facing South Australians, having worked in the media for over five decades as a national and state TV current affairs executive producer and investigative reporter, newspaper editor, print journalist and radio broadcaster.

As a reporter he covered major news and sporting events here and abroad including three Olympic Games (Sydney, Athens, Beijing), Commonwealth Games (Manchester 2002), four FIFA World Cups (Italia 90, USA 94, Germany 2006 & South Africa 2010) and Formula One motor racing from 1985-1995.

He has a love of sport and is a strong supporter of the return of the Supercars to the streets of Adelaide.

Frank has maintained the reputation of a fearless crusader for the “underdog” and an advocate for social justice he earned in the media.

A multi award-winning journalist, Frank's investigations uncovered abuse of the aged in nursing homes and hospitals, child abuse, miscarriages of justice and fraud.

He also successfully advocated for pensioners, asbestos victims and war veterans denied their entitlements.

As a Member of the Legislative Council, Frank’s reputation for courageously driving change and tackling the hard issues has continued.

His track record over the past four years speaks for itself and is testimony to his hard work, determination and commitment to the people he was elected to serve.

He has Chaired Parliament’s Crime and Public Integrity Policy Committee which has tackled complex and controversial issues concerning the public sector, police and parliamentary accountability.

Frank was a catalyst for an inquiry into the Attorney-General and Planning Minister’s rejection of the Smith Bay deep-sea port proposal on Kangaroo Island. The final report into that matter confirmed Frank’s serious concerns about the assessment and approval process.

He is also a very engaged member of the Budget and Finance Committee, asking the hard questions about where our taxpayer dollars go and if they have been allocated and accounted for properly.

Some of his achievements have been very hard won, including securing 100% support of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly for his Independent Commission Against Corruption Amendment Bill, which substantially reformed our corruption watchdog in this state to refocus its functions, better pursue corruption, maladministration and misconduct, with greater accountability and less harm and damage to those wrongly accused.

Frank was also able to successfully move and have legislation passed to amend overly harsh SE Expressway traffic laws that saw a number of people unfairly lose their licence and hence often their livelihoods or businesses.

Frank has persistently asked the hard questions in the Legislative Council on critical issues such as health, aged care and transport.

His actions have led to a number of aged care and nursing homes improving their care and treatment of the aged.

Some of his quiet achievements are lesser known but nonetheless just as significant for the families or individuals involved.

For example, Frank was successful in the Legislative Council passing a motion he moved to ask the King of Malaysia to request Royal Malaysia Police more thoroughly investigate the murder of Adelaide grandmother, Annapuranee Jenkins, in Penang in 2017.

Frank has also negotiated a number of compensation settlements for people who had previously given up on ever seeing any restorative justice for damage or harm they have suffered.

Frank will continue to be a tireless and effective Member in the 55th South Australian Parliament, with an ambitious legislative agenda all ready to go, including Private Member’s Bills dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in emergency service occupations, CCTV cameras in aged care facilities, making defibrillator devices more readily available and reforms to the funeral industry to legislate the high standards the South Australian industry wants to maintain.

Frank can be contacted at his Parliament House office on (08) 8237 9484 or via email at pangallo.office@parliament.sa.gov.au

Frank was born, raised and educated in Adelaide’s western suburbs. He has been married to Angela for 21 years and is a father of three, and a grandfather.

Prior to being elected to the South Australian Parliament, Frank completed a 46-year media career as a national and state TV current affairs reporter, print journalist and radio broadcaster.

He earned a reputation as a fearless crusader for the ‘underdog’ and advocate for social justice. Frank's investigations uncovered abuse of the aged in nursing homes and hospitals, child abuse and fraud. He also successfully advocated for pensioners, asbestos victims and war veterans denied their entitlements.

In 2017, Frank retired from Adelaide’s top-rated Channel 7’s Today Tonight after 22 years as a supervising producer and investigative journalist. He also held senior executive roles with the program in Sydney and Queensland.

As a reporter he has covered major news and sporting events here and abroad, including three Olympic Games (Sydney, Athens, Beijing), Commonwealth Games (Manchester 2002) four FIFA World Cups (Italia 90, USA 94,Germany 2006 & South Africa 2010) and Formula One motor racing from 1985-1995.

He has also made his mark as a radio sports broadcaster and commentator, specialising in football (soccer) and Formula One motor racing.

Frank’s contribution to the South Australian media was acknowledged in 2012 when he was presented with the SA Press Club Gold Award for Journalist of the Year.

Frank can be contacted at his Parliament House office on (08) 8237 9484 or via email at pangallo.office@parliament.sa.gov.au