Australian Greens

About

Dr. Andrew Melville-Smith has lived and worked in the Upper Spencer Gulf region since 1998, prior to that he lived in Melbourne and Adelaide.  His first degree was in Electrical Engineering and later in life he went back to Melbourne University to obtain a degree in veterinary science and now practices as a veterinary surgeon in Whyalla and Roxby Downs. He is also an Academic Associate of Melbourne University where he assists in the education of final years veterinary students.

Andrew is a keen follower of the arts and has his own collection of Pre Raphelite etchings.  In 2006 he commissioned world famous artist Andy Scott to create a unique sculpture of Henry Lawson’s “The Loaded Dog”. The sculpture was sculptured in Glasgow, Scotland, shipped to Australia and unveiled by Greens MLC Mark Parnell in 2008 at the front of his veterinary clinic in Whyalla.

He has always been very concerned about environmental issues. His veterinary clinics were one of the first businesses to start offsetting their carbon emissions and to date; they have planted more than 6000 trees.

Community passion

Andrew has been heavily involved in the fight to save the Point Lowly Peninsula from becoming an industrial estate. He says there are now multiple threats to the Upper Spencer Gulf and the Giant Australian Cuttlefish, which include the proposed construction of an oil refinery, BHP desalination plant, and bulk ore port on the Point Lowly Peninsula.

“We have lots of issues that we must deal with such as reliable water supplies, peak oil and climate change and the current government policy is either to ignore them and hope they go away; or pass the problem on to industry and hope they solve it. That’s not leadership, that’s neglect! Leaving government issues to industry who are only interested in maximising profit for their shareholders is not leadership, that’s neglect!” said Andrew.

Family

Andrew has been married to his wife Jo, a nurse practicing in community health, for 26 years. Andrew and Jo have three adopted children from overseas. Their eldest daughter comes from Sri Lanka and the youngest are twins from Ethiopia. 

They have three dogs and two cats, all strays that they have adopted. 

“They say when you have a family; your perspective changes and you start thinking of what sort of future you are leaving them.  Like everyone else, I want my children to grow up to be happy, healthy and have opportunities for the future.”