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Iain Frederick Evans (born 18 April 1959) is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2006 to 2007.
The following is a quote from pollbludger.com:
By February 2007, financial woes within the state Liberal party as well as contests between the party president and opposition leadership had come to a head. At a meeting in Norwood, Evans reportedly commented that "when we lose the federal election at the end of the year, the Liberal Party will be in dire straits and we have got to plan to deal with that". The alleged gaffe drew a rebuke from one federal Liberal MP who labelled Evans and his state parliamentary team "hopeless". Party president Christopher Moriarty accused Evans of being "piss-weak and gutless" for not backing a business plan aimed at assisting the party out of its parlous financial situation. High-ranking party members were canvassing support for an urgent no-confidence motion in Mr Moriarty, with one senior figure quoted as saying that "Moriarty is to the Liberal Party what Mark Latham was to Labor", but others counselled Evans against challenging Moriarty due to the high chance of failure. By late February, speculation over the opposition leader's future was being reported in the media, although he was expected to survive in the short term due to lack of options with 15 MPs remaining in the lower house. Initial reports suggested previous aspirant Martin Hamilton-Smith might challenge for the position, with Isobel Redmond as deputy.
In early April, Hamilton-Smith announced his leadership intentions to challenge Evans. Lib leader Iain Evans faces spill The Advertiser, 10 April 2007. Retrieved on 10 April 2007. Former Liberal Premier Kerin offered his opinion that Hamilton-Smith should and would fail, Party must back Evans, says former Liberal Premier The Australian, 11 April 2007. Retrieved on 11 April 2007. however on 11 April 2007, Hamilton-Smith defeated Evans on 13 votes to 10, becoming the new Liberal opposition leader after deputy leader Vickie Chapman offered her support to him.
Upon former Liberal leader Alexander Downer's retirement from federal politics, Evans announced his nomination for Liberal preselection in the 2008 Mayo by-election. Key SA Lib considers run for Mayo – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) AdelaideNow... State MP Iain Evans to run in Alexander Downer's seat of Mayo The preselection plebiscite was held to be held on 22 July, Nine seek Liberal preselection in Mayo – Breaking News – National – Breaking News but was brought forward to 20 July, with former John Howard staffer chiefly for WorkChoices, Jamie Briggs, winning preselection, with Evans coming second. Howard adviser in Mayo: The Age 21/7/2008 Bob Day, who held membership of the Liberal Party for 20 years, and the endorsed Liberal candidate for Makin in 2007, quit the party after failing in his bid to win Mayo preselection, citing a "manipulated" preselection process. Evans agreed to some extent. Liberal chief Iain Evans admits to Mayo concerns: The Australian 29/7/2008
Remarkably on 30 March 2010 exactly four years after he had been elected Liberal leader, Evans stood for the deputy's job but was defeated by the man who toppled him for the leadership in 2007, Hamilton-Smith. Evans was once again defeated by Hamilton-Smith for a leadership position in a rematch between the two former leaders. Evans was overlooked for the deputy's job despite getting the support of Redmond. Redmond had made it known that Hamilton-Smith was not her preferred deputy and a party room meeting was called for 6 April to reconsider the deputy's job. Hamilton-Smith stood aside but Evans did not renominate for the job and it went instead to Mitch Williams.
On 31 January 2013 Redmond resigned as leader. Steven Marshall, who had by this point replaced Williams as deputy leader, became acting leader and formally appointed leader on 4 February. Evans, once again contested the now vacant deputy's job but was defeated by his former deputy Vickie Chapman.
Evans suffered a 2.8-point two-party swing against him, reduced to a margin of 8.1 points in Davenport at the 2014 state election, with two-party swings against him of up to 8 points in some booths, including the traditionally Liberal-voting booth of Belair which Labor won by three votes. On 6 June 2014 he announced he would stand down from the shadow ministry and parliament within a year and before the next election. There was speculation that Evans was asked to delay his resignation and the by-election for a year due to federal Liberal government budget cuts and that there could be a "super Saturday" of by-elections in up to five Liberal-held seats. Davenport by-election – Labor lacking confidence, accuse Greens: ABC 10 June 2014 Liberals eye super by-election to oust ‘deadwood’ MPs after Martin Hamilton-Smith’s defection: The Advertiser 30 May 2014
Evans resigned from parliament on 30 October 2014. A 2015 Davenport by-election occurred. Iain Evans to quit: Senior Liberal will retire from SA politics and force by-election: ABC 6 June 2014 Departing SA Liberal Iain Evans takes final swipe at parliamentary colleagues: ABC 30 October 2014
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Post-Parliamentary career
Evans is a political lobbyist active in South Australia. As of April 2018 he is lobbying on behalf of Leigh Creek Energy. He also lobbies for Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers, which has proposed to construct an international port on the north coast of Kangaroo Island.
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