Former Powys man James Agness has called for hope and community in his maiden speech as Member for Light in the South Australian Parliament, whilst complimenting Gwernyfed High School and Llangynidr Primary School for his formative years.

Agness, who emigrated to Australia from the small village of Talybont-On-Usk in 2005, was elected as the tenth Member for Light, a peri-urban electorate centred around the township of Gawler approximately 30 miles from the State’s Capital City of Adelaide.

He was elected on March 21, 2026 at the 2026 South Australian State Election.

In his Maiden speech in early May, Mr Agness began by saying: “Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I congratulate you on your election as the 39th Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. On the southern wall of the Old Chamber of the South Australian Parliament hangs a portrait of our state's second Governor, Lieutenant Colonel George Gawler. In 1837, Governor Gawler tasked the colony's surveyor-general, Colonel William Light, with the establishment of the colony's second settlement north of Adelaide. Established two years later, it bears the governor's name.

“It was of little surprise to the traditional owners of this land, the Kaurna people, that Colonel Light chose to lay out a new town across 4,000 acres of land along the waterways now known as the Paras, both north and south, and the Gawler River. To the world's oldest continuous living culture, the junction and banks of these rivers were and continue to be a meeting place.

“Today, I pay my respects to elders’ past, present and emerging. I do so standing in the chamber in which South Australia established a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Today in this chamber we represent First Nations culture, our colonial history and 190 years of migration and cultural exchange. None of it should be rejected. All of it must be understood. We are stronger and better when we accept and understand our past, rather than trying to rewrite it or reject it. We must walk together.”

He then went on to speak of his younger years, travelling around the world and how being a migrant him into the man he is today. Agness highlighted two Powys schools that he attended in his younger years when talking about his political inspiration. He said: “My belief in the power of government begins amidst the fall of Thatcherism and 18 years of Tory government defined by trickle-down economics and the desire to take a nation 'back to basics'. Together with millions of Brits we began to believe that 'things could only get better'. Through the lens of 'Cool Britannia', optimism cascaded through the national consciousness: a belief that the Labour movement and New Labour, led by a charismatic leader whose father lectured at the University of Adelaide, could deliver a renewed social contract; a belief in a politics for the people, a politics that held true to the promise that one's lot in life was not determined by birthright but built on one's aptitude and attitude; and a belief that the 'opportunity society' could unharness constraint and that franchise, universal health care, social security and education could unlock the future and maximise human potential.

“These awakenings proved to be the foundations of my improbable path to this place. It is a journey that begins some 16 and a half thousand kilometres away in the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea, nestled among the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs on the English coast. With global change in the air, it was of little surprise that I was born with a thirst for adventure and new worlds. The firstborn son of an aeronautical engineer and a clerical officer, and the grandson of armed service personnel and a nurse on my father's side and teachers on my mother's, we moved to Sweden, experiencing its subzero temperatures, and then to the US and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul before a final stop in the Peach State of Georgia.

“With the arrival of my younger brother, mum and dad decided to return to the UK and England with its 'mountains green, pleasant pastures and clouded hills'. Soon, rural land laced with waterfalls, rivers, fern- filled gorges, wildflower-strewn trails and dark skies full of stars would be the backdrop for childhood adventures and mischievousness—a place where a child only had to worry about being a child.

“My early years at Llangynidr Primary School gave a curious kid the opportunity to challenge the orthodoxy, a trait taken up with gusto at Gwernyfed High School, where I made lifelong friends who, I understand, are streaming the South Australian parliament for the first time, and perhaps not the last.

“It was in the Hogwarts-style manor that was home to our high school where Julie Rees first exposed me to the classics and modern literature and the subtle questions each posed about the human condition. She encouraged me to think differently, to ask hard questions and to push boundaries, traits that I am sure some of my former bosses in this place continue to curse. But in doing so, she imparted a wisdom that has stuck with me, a wisdom that made clear one can only understand a person by considering things from their point of view and it cannot truly be done until you have climbed into their skin and walked around in it.”

James Agness laid out his plans for the people in South Australia. He said: “I will ensure that the pressures and demands of growth are acknowledged and responded to and that infrastructure which enhances our community is built. I will ensure that the fundamental promise embodied in the slogan 'the best of town and country' is fulfilled. I will ensure that the promise of economic prosperity translates across our region, that economic anxiety is replaced with hope and that new economies and industries of a reimagined and empowered north are always within reach.”

He ended his speech saying: “As I end my remarks, indulge me in reflecting on the words of Winston Churchill. In his first address to the Commons as Prime Minister, he said, 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.' The people of Light, and the people of South Australia, will have them all in abundance from me. I thank you.”