Sarah Game
{{short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix= The Honourable
| name = Sarah Game
| honorific-suffix= MLC
| image =
| party = Independent (since 2025)
| otherparty = One Nation (until 2025)
| office = Member of the South Australian Legislative Council
| term_start = 19 March 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = John Darley
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| education =
| alma_mater = University of Sydney
| occupation = {{hlist|Veterinarian|Teacher}}
}}
Sarah Game is an Australian politician who has served as a member of the South Australian Legislative Council since 2022.{{Cite SA-parl|pid=6929|name=Hon Sarah Leslie Game|former=|access-date=10 November 2022}} She was the first member of Pauline Hanson's One Nation elected to the Parliament of South Australia, but resigned from the party in 2025.{{cite news |title=South Australia gets first One Nation MP with Sarah Game elected to Legislative Council |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-27/sa-gets-first-one-nation-mp-legislative-council/101017738b |access-date=27 April 2022 |agency=ABCNEWS}}{{cite news |url=https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/04/27/a-new-game-in-sa-parliament-as-one-nation-breaks-through/ |newspaper=InDaily |date=27 April 2022 |title=A new Game in SA parliament as One Nation breaks through |first=Tom |last=Richardson |access-date=28 April 2022}}
Early career
Before her election in 2022, Game had been a veterinarian in a practice at South Brighton, a coastal suburb of Adelaide, since July 2021, using the name Sarah Wareing. She completed a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 2006 at the University of Sydney in 2006 and lived in the United Kingdom for the next ten years, working as a biology teacher.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301120718/https://bvh.net.au/team/dr-sarah-wareing/ |archive-date=2022-03-01 |url=https://bvh.net.au/team/dr-sarah-wareing/|title=Dr Sarah Wareing |publisher=Brighton Veterinary Hospital }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-28/one-nation-tight-lipped-on-sa-candidate-sarah-game/100943778 |title=One Nation tight-lipped on mystery candidate poised to win SA upper house seat |date=28 March 2022 |work=ABC News |first1=Leah |last1=MacLennan |first2=Rory |last2=McClaren |first3=Isabel |last3=Dayman}}
Political career
She was One Nation's first member of the South Australian parliament.
Game does not support the banning of foreign language teaching in schools (which had been a One Nation policy before the election), and she does not hold to strict interpretations of complex personal issues relating to abortion and transgender issues. She has Jewish heritage and was confirmed Catholic, but does not regard herself as religious, and chose to use the affirmation rather than religious oath at her swearing in to office. She has a strong focus on providing the best available education to all students regardless of their background, drawn from her own experience.
In her inaugural speech to parliament, she declared her support for "sustainable, cohesive immigration to Australia".{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-18/new-sa-one-nation-mp-declares-support-for-refugees-immigration/101077708 | title=New South Australian One Nation MP backs refugee intake and cultural diversity in maiden speech | newspaper=ABC News | date=18 May 2022 }} David Ettridge, a founding member of One Nation, responded by claiming that Game held "Greens values" that could prompt a split from the party, adding "this is not what One Nation voters voted for".{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Tom |title='This is not what One Nation supporters voted for': Party founder slams SA MP |url=https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/05/20/this-is-not-what-one-nation-supporters-voted-for-party-founder-slams-sa-mp/ |access-date=14 July 2022 |work=InDaily |date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714035433/https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/05/20/this-is-not-what-one-nation-supporters-voted-for-party-founder-slams-sa-mp/ |archive-date=14 July 2022 |url-status=live}}
In 2022, Game supported moves to ban the Nazi Swastika.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-15/sa-one-nation-mp-sarah-game-backs-swastika-ban-proposal/101153616|title= One Nation MP Sarah Game backs push for ban on public display of swastika in South Australia|website=ABC News|date= 15 June 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/one-nations-sarah-game-to-introduce-bill-to-ban-nazi-symbol/news-story/1f5821bc1ca4a6e5ad1dc3741410dc1e|title= Nazi hate-symbol ban proposed for SA|website= Adelaide Now}}{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-02/adelaide-holocaust-museum-targeted-by-hooded-neo-nazi-group/101398760|title= One Nation's Sarah Game to lead inquiry as police investigate image of hooded neo-Nazi group doing salute outside Holocaust Museum|website=ABC News|date= 2 September 2022}}
Game has expressed her opposition to legislation that would establish an "indigenous voice to parliament" in South Australia, saying it would divide South Australians based on race, and that One Nation wants "real tangible benefits for all disadvantaged Australians".{{cite web | url=https://www.onenation.org.au/say-no-to-the-south-australian-voice | title=Say No to the South Australian 'Voice' }}
After the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, in which over 64% of South Australians voted against the Voice, Game announced plans to introduce a bill to repeal the South Australian state based Voice with the First Nations Voice Act 2023 bill.{{Cite web |title=This state had the second-highest No vote, so why is it introducing its own Voice? |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/this-state-had-the-second-highest-no-vote-so-why-is-it-introducing-its-own-voice/qxrasyk03 |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=SBS News |language=en |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019225044/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/this-state-had-the-second-highest-no-vote-so-why-is-it-introducing-its-own-voice/qxrasyk03 |url-status=live }}
On the evening of 16 October 2024, Game was involved in a minor controversy with Liberal MLC Michelle Lensink over the SA abortion amendment bill.{{Cite web |title=SA abortion amendment bill loses by one vote |url=https://www.indaily.com.au/news/2024/10/17/sa-abortion-amendment-bill-loses-by-one-vote}}
In May 2025, Game resigned from One Nation to sit as an independent. She blamed the way the One Nation brand is perceived and declared she wants to "advocate for all South Australians, regardless of their heritage or religious beliefs".{{cite web |last=Starick |first=Paul |url-access=subscription |title=South Australian upper house member Sarah Game quits Pauline Hanson's One Nation to stand as independent |url= https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/state-election/south-australian-upper-house-member-sarah-game-quits-pauline-hansons-one-nation-to-stand-as-independent/news-story/db69ee778565adf7ab5f5340f7f5ec89?amp&nk=c75a000f37b0c1b03f5d00dc70f8f25b-1747483201 |work=The Advertiser |access-date=17 May 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.today/2025.05.17-115949/https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/state-election/south-australian-upper-house-member-sarah-game-quits-pauline-hansons-one-nation-to-stand-as-independent/news-story/db69ee778565adf7ab5f5340f7f5ec89?amp&nk=c75a000f37b0c1b03f5d00dc70f8f25b-1747483201 |archive-date=17 May 2025 |date=17 May 2025}}
Personal life
Game grew up in a "separated family" in Sydney. At the time of her election in 2022, she had three children aged 7, 6 and 4, and was raising them as a single parent.{{cite news |url=https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/05/12/game-plan-one-nations-sa-makeover/ |title=GAME PLAN: One Nation's SA makeover |first=Tom |last=Richardson |newspaper=InDaily |date=12 May 2022 |access-date=14 May 2022 }}
Game's father, Robert Game, died by suicide on 2 February 2023. Following his death, Game voiced her support for increased access to mental health resources particularly in regional South Australia.{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-03/sarah-game-call-boost-sa-mental-health-fathers-sudden-death/101929500 | title=One Nation MP calls for boost to mental health resources following father's sudden death | newspaper=ABC News | date=3 February 2023 }}
References
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{{SACurrentMLCs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Game, Sarah}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Members of the South Australian Legislative Council
Category:Women members of the South Australian Legislative Council
Category:21st-century Australian politicians
Category:21st-century Australian women politicians
Category:Australian veterinarians
Category:Pauline Hanson's One Nation politicians
Category:University of Sydney alumni
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