Ted Baillieu
Edward Norman Baillieu is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of Hawthorn. He was elected leader of the Liberal Party in opposition in 2006, and served as Premier from 2010 until 2013 after winning the 2010 state election. He resigned as Premier on 6 March 2013, and was succeeded by Denis Napthine.
Early life
Ted Baillieu is the youngest son of Darren and Diana Baillieu. He is also the younger brother of solicitor Ian Baillieu, former ABC presenter Fiona Baillieu, author David Baillieu, former journalist and Portsea activist Kate Baillieu and Olympic oarsman and America's Cup yachtsman Will Baillieu. His Walloon great-great-great-grandfather, Étienne Lambert Baillieux, migrated to England from Liège, Belgium. The 3rd Baron Baillieu, James William Latham Baillieu is his third cousin and his great uncle is William Laurence Baillieu. He is also the great-grandson of Victorian politician William Knox. He was raised in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak and educated at Melbourne Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where he graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Baillieu is related to the Myer family.Professional career
He worked as an architect and for a time joined the family real estate firm Baillieu Knight Frank. The Labor Party ran an election advertisement campaign in 2006 and 2010 claiming he profited from Liberal government policies. Baillieu was also employed by Tourism Victoria from 1998 to 1999, before entering politics.Political career
He joined the Carlton branch of the Liberal Party in 1981 because of his frustration at the power of unions on building sites. By 1987 he was vice-president of the Victorian Liberal Party and President in 1994. At Jeff Kennett's insistence, Baillieu nominated for Liberal Party preselection for the safe seat of Hawthorn at the 1999 election, to replace the retiring member, former Liberal deputy leader Phil Gude. Baillieu was preselected, and won the seat at the election. It was at this election that Steve Bracks unexpectedly led the Labor Party to victory, with the support of three country independents, one a former Labor supporter and the other two conservatives.Baillieu immediately joined the Liberal frontbench, serving as Shadow Minister for Tertiary Education and Training, Gaming and Planning.
Liberal Party leadership
After Robert Doyle resigned as opposition leader on 4 May 2006, speculation mounted that former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett would return to politics and the position of Liberal Party Leader in order to lead the party into the 2006 state election set down for 25 November 2006. However, on the morning of 5 May 2006, Baillieu not only announced he was running for the leadership, but revealed that Kennett would not return to the leadership and was supporting Baillieu. Shadow Minister for Transport Terry Mulder had earlier announced he was running, but withdrew from the race. This left Baillieu to take the leadership unopposed at a Liberal party room vote on 8 May.Six months after assuming leadership of the Liberals, Baillieu took the party into the 2006 election. The governing Labor Party, keen to exploit Baillieu's wealth, dubbed him Ted the Toff from Toorak.
Throughout the campaign, media stories about Baillieu's extensive blue chip share portfolio, at the time estimated to be worth almost $4 million, raised questions about conflicts of interest. Baillieu's handling of the issue and his refusal to place his investments in a blind trust were both thought to have hurt the Liberal Party during the campaign. At the 25 November 2006 election, the Liberals came up well short of winning government, though they managed to take six seats off Labor's large majority.
In a speech at the State Council of the Victorian Liberal Party, Ballieu opposed the push by John Howard for nuclear reactors in Victoria.
An online campaign against Baillieu by senior Liberal Party members was uncovered and made public, with Baillieu promising to root out the disloyal elements in his party. The media suspected that forces loyal to former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello and former State Party President Michael Kroger, themselves from Melbourne, had attempted to undermine Baillieu.
In February 2008, at a joint news conference it was announced that the Victorian Nationals and Liberals would join in a new Coalition agreement forged between Baillieu and Peter Ryan. As part of the arrangement, the parties agreed to hold joint party meetings, develop joint policies, allocate five shadow cabinet positions to the Nationals, abolish three-cornered contests and run joint Legislative Council tickets in the non-metropolitan Regions. The Liberals and Nationals have historically had strained relations in Victoria. They had fought the 1992 and 1996 state elections as a Coalition after having sat separately for most of the second half of the 20th century, but went their separate ways after the 1999 election.
In 2008, Baillieu voted for abortion law reform which decriminalised abortion up to twenty four weeks and the moment of birth if two doctors grant approval.
In July 2009 Baillieu had visited India along with Ministerial Adviser Mr. Nitin Gupta, and had met with various politicians/prominent personalities in India like Sriprakash Jaiswal, Rajeev Shukla, Rekha Gupta, Revanth Reddy, and various others, during the time when there were stories in Indian media about attacks on Indian students in Australia.
During his leadership of the Liberals, Baillieu was considered to be a moderate Liberal; as opposition leader he backed voluntary assisted dying, equal rights for the LGBTQI community, gambling reforms, a plan to give condoms to prisoners, and the decriminalisation of abortion.
Premier of Victoria
Baillieu, as Leader of the Opposition, contested the 2010 Victorian state election as the alternative Premier of Victoria with the Leader of the Nationals, Peter Ryan, as the alternative Deputy Premier. Baillieu focused during the election campaign mainly on the crime, safety, policies of health, law and order, government expenditure and the longevity and the ability of the incumbent Labor government to deliver on its promises. Until election eve, polling indicated Labor would win a record fourth term in government, albeit by a tight margin. The final Newspoll saw a two party preferred figure of 48.9 percent for Labor and 51.1 percent to the Liberals and Nationals.Ultimately, the Coalition picked up a swing of 5.96 percent, larger than what it won during its landslide victory in 1992. Baillieu's multicultural advisers Gladys Liu, and Nitin Gupta helped in attracting multicultural votes towards the Liberal party in marginal seats that mattered.
Two days after the election, on 29 November, the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, conceded defeat after it became clear that his government had lost its majority to the opposition. The Coalition only just managed the 13-seat swing it needed to make Baillieu premier. It won 45 seats to Labor's 43, with a parliamentary majority of just one seat after the appointment of Ken Smith as Speaker. On 2 December, Baillieu was sworn in as the 46th Premier of Victoria, along with 22 of the Baillieu/Ryan government ministers.
After two years in office, Baillieu was criticised by business and community leaders for acting too slowly and failing to present a credible policy agenda. His government was criticised for its "backward" environmental record for dismantling protection of native species, cutting support for renewable energy and introducing cattle grazing in the Alpine National Park, as well as for cutting funding for TAFE vocational education.