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Denis Napthine

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The Honourable
Denis Napthine
AO
Napthine in 2013
47th Premier of Victoria
Elections: 2014
In office
6 March 2013 – 4 December 2014
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorAlex Chernov
DeputyPeter Ryan
Preceded byTed Baillieu
Succeeded byDaniel Andrews
Leader of the Opposition of Victoria
In office
26 October 1999 – 20 August 2002
PremierSteve Bracks
DeputyLouise Asher
Preceded byJeff Kennett
Succeeded byRobert Doyle
Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria
In office
6 March 2013 – 4 December 2014
DeputyLouise Asher
Preceded byTed Baillieu
Succeeded byMatthew Guy
In office
26 October 1999 – 20 August 2002
DeputyLouise Asher
Preceded byJeff Kennett
Succeeded byRobert Doyle
Minister for Regional Cities and Racing
In office
13 March 2013 – 4 December 2014
PremierHimself
Succeeded byMartin Pakula (Racing)
Minister for the Arts
In office
6 March 2013 – 13 March 2013
PremierHimself
Preceded byTed Baillieu
Succeeded byHeidi Victoria
Minister for Ports, Regional Cities, Racing and Major Projects
In office
2 December 2010 – 13 March 2013
PremierTed Baillieu
Himself
Preceded byTim Pallas (Ports, Major Projects)
Rob Hulls (Racing)
Succeeded byDavid Hodgett (Ports, Major Projects)
Treasurer of Victoria
In office
7 October 1999 – 20 October 1999
PremierJeff Kennett
Preceded byAlan Stockdale
Succeeded bySteve Bracks
Minister for Youth and Community Services
In office
30 March 1996 – 18 September 1999
PremierJeff Kennett
Preceded byVin Heffernan (Youth)
Michael John (Community)
Succeeded byJacinta Allan (Youth)
Christine Campbell (Community)
Member of Parliament
for South-West Coast
In office
30 November 2002 – 3 September 2015
Preceded byNew seat
Succeeded byRoma Britnell
Member of the Victorian Parliament
for Portland
In office
1 October 1988 – 30 November 2002
Preceded byDigby Crozier
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Personal details
Born
Denis Vincent Napthine

(1952-03-06) 6 March 1952 (age 72)
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Political partyLiberal
SpousePeggy
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Deakin University
ProfessionVeterinarian
Signature
Websitedenisnapthine.com.au

Denis Vincent Napthine AO (born 6 March 1952) is an Australian former politician and veterinarian who served as the 47th premier of Victoria from 2013 to 2014. He held office as the leader of the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia (LPA) and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Portland from 1988 to 2002, before transferring to that of South-West Coast from 2002 to 2015.

He was elected leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party on 6 March 2013 following the resignation of Ted Baillieu and was sworn in as premier on the same day. His party lost the Victorian state election on 29 November 2014 and he announced he would step down as leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, with Matthew Guy being elected his successor on 4 December.

Early life

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Napthine was born in 1952 to Len and Theresa Napthine in Geelong, Victoria, as the third child in a family of ten children.[1][2][3]

Napthine spent his early school years at Winchelsea State School before attending Chanel College, a Catholic boys' school in Lovely Banks near Geelong. After graduating he attended the University of Melbourne, where he studied to be a veterinarian, undertaking a bachelor's and then a master's degree in veterinary science. He later completed a master's degree in business administration from Deakin University.[1][3][4]

Political career

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Napthine earlier in his political career

Napthine was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1988 as member for the country seat of Portland. He was re-elected in 1992, 1996 and 1999.[5]

Napthine was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health in 1992 and then promoted to Minister for Youth and Community Services in 1996 in Jeff Kennett's Liberal government, a position he held from 1996 to 1999.[5]

Following the defeat of the Liberal Party at the 1999 election, Kennett resigned as Liberal leader and Napthine was elected to take his place. Napthine had briefly served as Deputy Liberal Leader, having been elected to the position just shortly before Kennett stood down as Liberal Leader.[citation needed] During his term as Opposition Leader the Liberal–National coalition split, fracturing the opposition parties.

Under Napthine's leadership, the Liberal Party did poorly in the polls and made no significant electoral inroads on the ruling Labor government. Shortly before the 2002 state election, Shadow Health Minister Robert Doyle challenged Napthine for the leadership of the Liberal Party.[citation needed] Doyle won the leadership by a narrow margin. At this election, Napthine ran in South-West Coast, essentially a reconfigured version of Portland. Although it was ancestrally Liberal territory, Napthine only managed to hold onto the seat with a significantly reduced margin which fell from 4.9 to only 0.7 points.[citation needed] He was re-elected in November 2006 with an increased margin.

After the Liberals won the 2010 Victorian election, Napthine was made a member of the Baillieu cabinet. He served as the Minister for Ports, Racing, Regional Cities and Major Projects.[5][6]

Premier of Victoria

[edit]
Napthine (left) in 2014

On 6 March 2013, Baillieu resigned as state leader of the Liberal Party and hence as Premier of Victoria. At an emergency meeting of the Liberal partyroom, Napthine—who had turned 61 that day—was elected his successor.[7] After the resignation of Geoff Shaw from the parliamentary Liberal Party earlier in the day, Napthine began leadership of a minority government, holding 43 seats (44 seats including that of the Speaker) to Labor's 43 seats, with Shaw sitting as an independent politician on the crossbench.

On 28 November 2013 Australian media reported that Napthine had 'secretly assisted' Shaw to draft a Private Member's Bill to change state abortion legislation which Napthine voted against in 2008.[8][9][10][11] Napthine refuted the allegations and stated his Government had no plans to change abortion laws,[8][12] nor would he support any such change. In June 2014 Napthine stated:[13]

"...that while I am Premier of this state, I will not allow Mr Shaw to introduce any legislation seeking to change the abortion laws in Victoria."

During September 2014 Napthine and Daniel Andrews told the Australian Christian Lobby that they would allow a conscience vote should a private members bill to repeal section eight of the Victorian abortion laws be introduced. Section eight if removed would mean doctors are not required by law to refer a woman who wants an abortion to an abortion doctor or perform the abortion even if they have a conscientious objection.[14]

In May 2014 a parliamentary privileges committee found that Shaw was not diligent in the use of his parliamentary car and fuel card.[15] On 3 June 2014 Shaw told radio station 774 ABC Melbourne that he would support a no confidence motion in the Napthine government.[16] On 11 June 2014, following a Labor move to expel Shaw from Parliament that was defeated on party lines with the support of the speaker, Napthine's government successfully moved a motion that resulted in the Members of the Legislative Assembly suspending Shaw for a period of eleven days, fined A$6,838 and ordered to apologise to the Parliament upon his return.[17] Shaw's suspension followed a period of political instability under Napthine's leadership.[18][19][20]

On 29 September 2014, Napthine along with former Minister for Public Transport and Roads Terry Mulder signed what was reported to be a $5.3 billion contract with the now defunct East West Connect consortium to build the controversial East West Link toll road.[21] He has since received a lot of criticism for this, not only for his decision to sign on the eve of the month-long caretaker period before the upcoming November 2014 state election and before two legal cases into the planning approval for the project were resolved, but also for his decision, at the insistence of the East West Connect consortium, to direct the then state treasurer Michael O'Brien to sign a "side letter" guaranteeing the consortium compensation of more than $1 billion in the event that the court cases were successful or if for some other reason the contracts were cancelled (which Labor promised to do if it won the election), which was thought to be a contributing factor in the state having to pay what is thought to amount to $1.1 billion to EWC upon the declaration by the then new Andrews government to suspend work in December 2014, and the contracts eventually being terminated in June 2015. It was also revealed upon the contracts termination and release that the real cost of the Eastern section of East West Link amounted to $10.7 billion, $3.9 billion more than the $6.8 billion estimated cost by the Napthine government. In December 2015, the Victorian Auditor General revealed the cost of both sections of the East West Link would have been close to $22.8 billion in nominal terms.[22]

In opposition

[edit]

On 29 November 2014, after the Victorian state election, Napthine conceded defeat to Labor led by Daniel Andrews.[23]

Napthine stated that he intended to serve a full parliamentary term despite losing the Premiership,[24] however on 31 August 2015 he announced his resignation from the Victorian Parliament, which triggered a by-election in his electorate of South-West Coast.[25] Napthine gave money for John Pesutto's legal case with Moira Deeming. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-21/moira-deeming-john-pesutto-defamation-battle-mp-gifts/103492714

Personal life

[edit]

Napthine and his wife Peggy have three children. His younger brother, Simon, was the unsuccessful ALP candidate for the federal seat of Flinders at the 2004 election.[26]

Since childhood, Napthine supports the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League.[27]

One of Napthine's ancestors was convict Joseph Potaski.[28]

See also

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References

[edit]
This article is part of
a series about
Denis Napthine

Member of the Legislative Assembly for Portland (1988–2002)
Member of the Legislative Assembly for South-West Coast (2002–2015)

Premier of Victoria

Victoria State Government
  1. ^ a b "Who is Denis Napthine?". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 March 2013. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Argus. Melbourne. 10 March 1952. p. 13. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b Green, Shane (8 March 2013). "From country paddock to top job". The Age. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Premier Denis Napthine". Denis Napthine: Premier of Victoria; Member for South West Coast. Liberal Victoria. 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Members Information – Denis Napthine (South-West Coast)". Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  6. ^ Austin, Paul; Colebatch, Tim (3 December 2010). "Baillieu promotes Lib ex-leader". The Age. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  7. ^ "Ted Baillieu resigns as Victoria premier, Denis Napthine takes over as Liberal leader". The Australian. 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Denis Napthine – South-West Coast (LIB)". Life vote. Australian Family Association. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Geoff Shaw dictating Coalition's agenda". News.com.au. 28 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  10. ^ Ferguson, John (28 November 2013). "Denis Napthine secretly helped Geoff Shaw over abortion laws – report". The Herald-Sun. Archived from the original on 9 June 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  11. ^ Ferguson, John (28 November 2013). "Geoff Shaw dictating Coalition's agenda". The Australian. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  12. ^ Webb, Carolyn; Cook, Henrietta (4 December 2013). "Napthine vows he will not change abortion laws". The Age. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  13. ^ Tomazin, Farrah (8 June 2014). "Abortion debate not on, Denis Napthine pledges". The Age. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  14. ^ "What Denis Napthine and Daniel Andrews told Christians". Voice for values. Australian Christian Lobby. 24 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Inquiry in relation to recommendation 2 of the Ombudsman's report Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001: Investigation into allegations against Mr Geoff Shaw MP" (PDF). Legislative Assembly Privileges Committee (PDF). Melbourne, Victoria: Parliament of Victoria. May 2014. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  16. ^ Savage, Alison (4 June 2014). "Napthine-Andrews standoff over 'rorter' Geoff Shaw a battle of nerves". ABC News. ABC. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  17. ^ Uhlmann, Chris; Donovan, Samantha (12 June 2014). "Vic Parliament suspends Geoff Shaw". AM (streaming audio and transcript). Australia. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  18. ^ Willingham, Richard; Cook, Henrietta; Gordon, Josh (11 June 2014). "Rogue MP Geoff Shaw suspended from Parliament". The Age. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  19. ^ Lillebuen, Steve (12 June 2014). "Geoff Shaw must be remorseful or be expelled, Denis Napthine warns". The Age. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  20. ^ Ferguson, John; Baxendale, Rachel (12 June 2014). "Rebel Victorian MP Geoff Shaw suspended and fined". The Australian. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  21. ^ "Victorian Government called 'arrogant' over East West Link deal". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Decision to scrap East West Link 'based of flawed advice': Auditor-general". ABC News. 8 December 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Victoria votes 2014 live: Labor wins election, Napthine concedes defeat". ABC News. 29 November 2014. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  24. ^ Conifer, Dan (1 December 2014). "Denis Napthine 'fully intends' to serve his full term following the Coalition's election defeat". ABC News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  25. ^ "Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine retires from politics". ABC News. 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  26. ^ "2004 Federal Election – Flinders Electorate Profile". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2004. Archived from the original on 25 September 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  27. ^ "After two decades and $340m of funding, Geelong's Kardinia Park upgrade nears end". ABC News. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  28. ^ Purcell, Marie (1991). By degrees: a story of the Potaskie/McDonald family 1802–1987. M. Purcell. ISBN 0-646-05619-0.
[edit]
Victorian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Portland
1988–2002 		Seat abolished
Seat created Member for South-West Coast
2002–2015 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded byas Minister for Youth Affairs Minister for Youth and Community Services
1996–1999 		Succeeded byas Minister for Education Services and Youth Affairs
Preceded byas Minister for Community Services Succeeded byas Minister for Community Development
Preceded by Treasurer of Victoria
1999 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition of Victoria
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for Roads and Ports Minister for Ports
2010–2014 		Succeeded by
Minister for Major Projects
2010–2014 		Ministry abolished
Preceded by Minister for Racing
2010–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for Regional and Rural Development Minister for Regional Cities
2010–2014 		Succeeded byas Minister for Regional Development
Preceded by Minister for the Arts
2013 		Succeeded by
Premier of Victoria
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
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