Denis Napthine | |
|---|---|
 Napthine in 2013 | |
| 47thPremier of Victoria | |
| In office 6 March 2013 – 4 December 2014 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor | Alex Chernov |
| Deputy | Peter Ryan |
| Preceded by | Ted Baillieu |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Andrews |
| Leader of the Opposition of Victoria | |
| In office 26 October 1999 – 20 August 2002 | |
| Premier | Steve Bracks |
| Deputy | Louise Asher |
| Preceded by | Jeff Kennett |
| Succeeded by | Robert Doyle |
| Leader of theLiberal Party in Victoria | |
| In office 6 March 2013 – 4 December 2014 | |
| Deputy | Louise Asher |
| Preceded by | Ted Baillieu |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Guy |
| In office 26 October 1999 – 20 August 2002 | |
| Deputy | Louise Asher |
| Preceded by | Jeff Kennett |
| Succeeded by | Robert Doyle |
| Minister for Regional Cities andRacing | |
| In office 13 March 2013 – 4 December 2014 | |
| Premier | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Martin Pakula (Racing) |
| Minister for the Arts | |
| In office 6 March 2013 – 13 March 2013 | |
| Premier | Himself |
| Preceded by | Ted Baillieu |
| Succeeded by | Heidi Victoria |
| Minister forPorts, Regional Cities,Racing andMajor Projects | |
| In office 2 December 2010 – 13 March 2013 | |
| Premier | Ted Baillieu Himself |
| Preceded by | Tim Pallas (Ports, Major Projects) Rob Hulls (Racing) |
| Succeeded by | David Hodgett (Ports, Major Projects) |
| Treasurer of Victoria | |
| In office 7 October 1999 – 20 October 1999 | |
| Premier | Jeff Kennett |
| Preceded by | Alan Stockdale |
| Succeeded by | Steve Bracks |
| Minister forYouth and Community Services | |
| In office 30 March 1996 – 18 September 1999 | |
| Premier | Jeff Kennett |
| Preceded by | Vin Heffernan (Youth) Michael John (Community) |
| Succeeded by | Jacinta Allan (Youth) Christine Campbell (Community) |
| Member of Parliament forSouth-West Coast | |
| In office 30 November 2002 – 3 September 2015 | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Roma Britnell |
| Member of theVictorian Parliament forPortland | |
| In office 1 October 1988 – 30 November 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Digby Crozier |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Denis Vincent Napthine (1952-03-06)6 March 1952 (age 73) Geelong,Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Peggy |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne Deakin University |
| Profession | Veterinarian |
| Signature |  |
| Website | denisnapthine |
Denis Vincent NapthineAO (born 6 March 1952) is an Australian former politician and veterinarian who served as the 47thpremier of Victoria from 2013 to 2014. He held office as the leader of theVictorian division of theLiberal Party of Australia (LPA) and was a member of theVictorian Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district ofPortland from 1988 to 2002, before transferring to that ofSouth-West Coast from 2002 to 2015.
He was elected leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party on 6 March 2013 following the resignation ofTed Baillieu and was sworn in as premier on the same day. His party lost theVictorian state election on 29 November 2014 and he announced he would step down as leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, withMatthew Guy being elected his successor on 4 December.
Napthine was born in 1952 to Len and Theresa Napthine inGeelong, Victoria, as the third child in a family of ten children.[1][2][3]
Napthine spent his early school years atWinchelsea State School before attendingChanel College, a Catholic boys' school inLovely Banks near Geelong. After graduating he attended theUniversity of Melbourne, where he studied to be aveterinarian, undertaking a bachelor's and then a master's degree inveterinary science. He later completed a master's degree inbusiness administration fromDeakin University.[1][3][4]
Napthine was elected to theVictorian Legislative Assembly in1988 as member for the country seat ofPortland. He was re-elected in1992,1996 and1999.[5]
Napthine was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health in 1992 and then promoted to Minister forYouth and Community Services in 1996 inJeff Kennett's Liberal government, a position he held from 1996 to 1999.[5]
Following the defeat of the Liberal Party at the1999 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 the2002 state election, Shadow Health MinisterRobert 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 inSouth-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 inNovember 2006 with an increased margin.
After the Liberals won the2010 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]
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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 ofGeoff 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 anindependent politician on thecrossbench.
On 28 November 2013 Australian media reported that Napthine had 'secretly assisted' Shaw to draft aPrivate Member's Bill to changestate 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 andDaniel 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 station774 ABC Melbourne that he would support ano 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, finedA$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 RoadsTerry Mulder signed what was reported to be a $5.3 billion contract with the now defunct East West Connect consortium to build the controversialEast 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 treasurerMichael 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]
On 29 November 2014, after theVictorian state election, Napthine conceded defeat to Labor led byDaniel 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 aby-election in his electorate of South-West Coast.[25]Napthine gave money forJohn Pesutto's legal case withMoira Deeming.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-21/moira-deeming-john-pesutto-defamation-battle-mp-gifts/103492714
Napthine and his wife Peggy have three children. His younger brother, Simon, was theunsuccessful ALP candidate for the federal seat ofFlinders at the2004 election.[26]
Since childhood, Napthine supports theGeelong Football Club in theAustralian Football League.[27]
One of Napthine's ancestors was convictJoseph Potaski.[28]
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|---|---|---|
Member of the Legislative Assembly forPortland (1988–2002) Premier of Victoria  | ||
| Victorian Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forPortland 1988–2002 | Seat abolished |
| Seat created | Member forSouth-West Coast 2002–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byasMinister for Youth Affairs | Minister forYouth and Community Services 1996–1999 | Succeeded byas Minister for Education Services andYouth 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 theLiberal Party in Victoria 1999–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of theLiberal Party in Victoria 2013–2014 | Succeeded by |
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