Politics Duncan was elected to the
South Australian House of Assembly for the electorate of
Elizabeth in the
1973 South Australian election, when he was 28. In state parliament, Duncan served as 41st
Attorney-General of South Australia from 1975 until 1979, and then as Minister for Health until the defeat of the
Corcoran Labor government at the
1979 state election. He resigned from state politics in 1984, sparking an
Elizabeth by-election. Duncan was
Minister for Land Transport and Infrastructure Support (1987–88) and
Minister for Employment and Education Services for over three years from 1988 to 1990. After leaving the ministry in 1990, he became Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General in December 1991, a post he held until Labor lost office in 1996.
Business Duncan had a business career after politics, which became a source of controversy when he was charged in September 2007 with "making an untrue statement in application for a Commonwealth grant and with dishonestly causing loss to a Commonwealth entity". It was reported that this had occurred in the wake of the failure of his
plastic recycling business Omnipol. He was subsequently ordered to stand trial on three counts in the
South Australian District Court. Duncan went on trial on 3 November 2008, pleading not guilty. On 11 November, he was acquitted on all charges. ==References==