Legh Davis

Legh Hewitson Davis (19 September 1940 – 10 May 2026) was an Australian politician who was President of the Liberal Party of South Australia. Davis was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in 1979 as a member of the Liberal Party serving until his retirement at the State Election in February 2002. During his parliamentary tenure, Davis held the position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council between 1985-89 and acted as the party spokesman across several portfolio areas including, Finance, Arts, Small Business, Housing, Forests, and Ethnic affairs.

Education Davis attended Prince Alfred College, where he completed his secondary school education in 1957. He graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Economics in 1961 and later obtained a Bachelor of Law in 1965.

Career After graduating University, Davis became an active member of the Young Liberal Movement of Australia. From 1966 to 1969, he served as State President and under his leadership, Davis was credited with providing “a renewed sense of direction and coordination to the Young Liberal Movement and thus membership substantially increased”. In 1970 Davis became Federal Chairman of the movement and held the position until 1972.

In 1965, Davis joined the Law and Economics faculty at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia), where he lectured for four years. he held numerous other shadow ministerial portfolios, including Housing and Construction, Finance, The Ageing, Small Business, Forests, Ethnic Affairs, and Corporate Affairs. which evaluated the role, performance, and ongoing relevance of state agencies and independent public bodies.

After retiring from Parliament in 2002, Davis became State Chairman of sharebroker ABN AMRO Morgans and Director of Morgans Adelaide, and held the positions until 2010. After AMRO Morgans rebranded as Morgans Financial, he continued with the firm as Senior Consultant.

In 2003, Davis served as State Treasurer of the Liberal Party and held the position until 2005.

In 2005, Davis became Chairman of the State Development Fund which provided equity capital to small and medium sized Australian companies.

In September 2020, Davis was elected State President of the South Australian Liberal Party, and held the position until the end of his term in late 2022.

Community activities In 2003, Davis joined the board of Artbank, a national art rental and collecting scheme designed to support Australian contemporary artists through acquisitions and the promotion of their work to the broader public.

In 2008, Davis was appointed to the board of the Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation, a charitable organisation which aims to make the arts accessible to all South Australians. In 2014, Davis became Chair of the foundation, serving two three-year terms before stepping down in December 2020. During his tenure as Chair, Davis, alongside the Foundation's Philanthropy manager, Robyn Brown, contributed to raising $5.5 million toward the $66 million upgrade and renewal of Her Majesty's Theatre over six years.

Awards In 2001, Davis was awarded a Centenary Medal "for long service to public life through the parliament and to charity". He was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours in recognition of his "significant service to the arts, to philanthropy, and to the community of South Australia".