Candy Celeste Broad (born 4 January 1956) is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from September 1999 to May 2014, first representing the electorate of Melbourne North Province until 2006, and then as a Member for the Northern Victoria region.
After making a name for herself as the Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), Broad moved into politics, contesting a safe Labor seat at the 1999 Victorian state election. She was immediately promoted into the ministry and served three years as Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for Ports. After overseeing a range of changes in this area, she was promoted to Minister for Local Government and Housing after the 2002 election, but was unsuccessful in retaining a frontbench position following the 2006 Victorian State Election.
Beginnings
Broad was born in Perth, Western Australia, and studied commerce at the University of Western Australia. She graduated in 1978 and joined the Australian Labor Party the following year. After moving to Melbourne, Victoria in 1980, she worked as an administrator at the Labor Resource Centre—which specialised in industry and employment-related research—for several years. In 1986, she was appointed as a ministerial adviser, specialising in conservation for three years, before switching to education in 1989.
In 1991, Broad was promoted to Head of the Premier's Office under Joan Kirner. This tenure was to be short-lived, as the Kirner government was defeated the following year, but she re-emerged as the party's Assistant National Secretary in 1993. While in this position, she had considerable influence over the creation of federal ALP policy, and campaigned for the rights of women in the party. To this end, Broad played a significant role in the 1994 introduction of the ALP's affirmative action scheme, aiming to have women pre-selected in 35 percent of winnable seats. She was also heavily involved in the creation in 1996 of Emily's List Australia, the support network for ALP women.
In the months before the 1999 state election, Caroline Hogg, the sitting member for the very safe Labor Legislative Council seat of Melbourne North Province, announced that she would resign only halfway through her term. This meant that a by-election for her seat would be held alongside the regular election, and Broad won Labor pre-selection to fill the vacancy.
First term (1999–2002)
The election saw Broad easily defeat her Liberal rival, and also saw the ALP, under new leader Steve Bracks, regain power after seven years. The widely unexpected victory meant that several first-time MPs were promoted to the ministry, and Broad was appointed Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Ports, and Minister Assisting the Minister for State and Regional Development. In this new portfolio, Broad was forced to deal with a number of major issues, particularly those surrounding the state's power supplies and natural resources.
One of Broad's first challenges as an incoming minister was to deal with the fate of the Snowy River, which had diminished to a trickle as a result of being dammed for various purposes. Though it had been an environmental issue for many years, it became of particular concern to the Bracks government, as the issue was central to the support of independent Craig Ingram, who they relied on to retain a majority in parliament. It fell to Broad, as the relevant minister, to handle negotiations on the issue with both the federal and New South Wales state governments. Despite the involvement of a number of conflicting interests, a major agreement was reached between the three parties in October 2000. This saw A$160 million put towards regenerating the river, with the intention of increasing its water flow to 28% of its original capacity.
Broad was also faced with the problem of balancing the need to promote environmentally sustainable sources of energy against the need to maintain a cheap and reliable electricity supply across the state. She publicly supported the Kyoto Protocol, and oversaw the introduction of the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy, which introduced a range of reforms, such as mandated five-star efficiency standards for new houses, and which, according to the government, would save "about five to eight million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year".
Despite this, Broad oversaw the tendering process for the first new brown coal licenses in Victoria in almost a century. This decision allowed for the construction of coal-to-oil facilities capable of emitting several million tons of additional carbon dioxide each year, with associated conditions requiring that they introduce more efficient means of production in order to minimise the environmental costs. However, the tenders led to substantial criticism from several environmental groups, such as Environment Victoria, who argued that it could "wipe out all of the savings" achieved in the Greenhouse Strategy, and pushed for a complete ban on new brown coal facilities.
As the minister responsible for energy, Broad was entrusted with the task of maintaining stable electricity supplies across the state. In this way, she helped to establish the National Electricity Market Ministers Forum, a high-level organisation with the mission of expediting reform in the area. She went on to serve as its founding chair during 2001.
In addition, she oversaw the instigation of two major changes to the state's electricity industry. This involved the establishment of the position of the Essential Services Commissioner, which created a regulatory body that could deal with individual complaints, and the introduction of choice in dealing with retail electricity companies. This encouraged the various electricity companies to compete for customers, replacing a system where each had operated with a monopoly in certain regions. However, Broad was also to face serious difficulties associated with industrial relations in this area, most notably when she was forced to play a mediating role in a long-running and much-publicised dispute between Yallourn Energy, one of the state's major power suppliers, and their workforce.
Second term (2002–2006)
Due to being elected in a by-election, Broad had to face re-election at the November 2002 state election, but was easily re-elected. After the election, Premier Bracks oversaw a major reshuffle of the ministry, and Broad was moved to the higher-profile portfolios of Local Government and Housing, at the expense of Bob Cameron, who was demoted to Agriculture. These new portfolios left Broad responsible for the issues of public housing, homelessness and local councils in general, as well as overseeing the November 2004 council elections.
Broad was responsible for implementing a controversial $70 million proposal to encourage welfare groups and councils to form not-for-profit housing associations as a means of dealing with public housing. Though Broad had not been involved in the plan's conception, as it had been devised by her predecessor as Minister for Housing, she had to deal with the mixed reactions the proposal received. While it was commended by some, such as the Salvation Army, others, such as the Brotherhood of St Laurence worried that it gave them little protection if an association ran into financial trouble.
Under Broad, several public housing estates underwent major renovations - most notably in the notorious Kensington area of Melbourne and in Wendouree West, Ballarat. A number of smaller residential facilities were also built, mostly in regional areas. However, she came under fire from several organisations representing public tenants for agreeing to raise rent charges across the state, as well as to sell off significant open space adjacent to an estate in Port Melbourne.
Broad's tenure as Minister for Housing also included the unveiling of the Youth Homeless Action Plan. This both attempted to determine major causes of homelessness and provided a number of potential means for dealing with the problem, such as family mediation and further attempts at education. It resulted in an influx of $8.8 million into relevant programs, as well as a $298,000 grant to the Melbourne Citymission. In addition, she oversaw the introduction of a $200,000 plan to prevent homeless in the regional area of Loddon Mallee, and opened a series of small accommodation centres for the homeless in both Melbourne and a number of regional centres.
In comparison to the many developments under the housing portfolio, Broad's term as Minister for Local Government has been comparatively uneventful. As the responsible minister for the November 2004 council elections, she came under some fire for not intervening in the City of Melbourne lord mayoral race, which had over 100 candidates vying for two positions, resulting in widespread allegations of dummy candidates. However, she claimed some vindication when the result was widely uncontroversial, seeing the re-election of incumbent Lord Mayor of Melbourne John So.
Third term (2006–2014)
Broad wished to continue as a Minister following Labor's victory on 25 November 2006, however, she did not have enough votes within the Labor Caucus to secure a frontbench position. She went to the backbench in the odd position of never having been a backbencher in her seven-year parliamentary career.
Broad introduced the Abortion Law Reform Bill into the Parliament in 2008, which was passed overwhelmingly on a conscience vote by Members of all parties.[1]
Stephen Phillip Bracks is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 to 2007.
Joan Elizabeth Kirner was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a member of the Legislative Council before later winning a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Kirner was a minister and briefly deputy premier in the government of John Cain Jr., and succeeded him as premier following his resignation. She was Australia's third female head of government and second female premier, Victoria's first, and held the position until her party was defeated in a landslide at the 1992 state election.
Jennifer Louise Macklin is an Australian former politician. She was elected to federal parliament at the 1996 federal election and served as the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2001 to 2006, under opposition leaders Simon Crean, Mark Latham and Kim Beazley. After the ALP won government at the 2007 election, she held ministerial office under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, serving as Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (2007–2013) and Minister for Disability Reform (2011–2013). She retired from parliament at the 2019 election.
Kim John Carr is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Johnstone William "John" Thwaites is an Australian former politician, and served as Deputy Premier of the state of Victoria from 1999 to 2007.
John Lenders is an Australian politician. He represented the Southern Metropolitan Region in the Victorian Legislative Council. He was most notably the Minister for Education in the Bracks Government and Treasurer of Victoria in the Brumby Government.
John Mansfield Brumby is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election as premier at the November 2010 Victorian state election. His government was defeated by the Liberal/National Coalition led by Ted Baillieu. Brumby resigned as Labor leader after the election, on 30 November, to be replaced by Daniel Andrews. Within weeks of this leadership change, Brumby left parliament, with a Broadmeadows by-election taking place on 19 February 2011.
Timothy James Holding is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2013. He served as minister for water; minister for finance, WorkCover and the Transport Accident Commission; and minister for tourism and major events in the Brumby Ministry.
Gavin Wayne Jennings is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1999 to 2020, representing Melbourne Province (1999–2006) and then the South Eastern Metropolitan Region (2006–2020). He was Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council and Special Minister of State in the Andrews Ministry from 2014 to 2020.
The 2006 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 25 November 2006, was for the 56th Parliament of Victoria. Just over 3 million Victorians registered to vote elected 88 members to the Legislative Assembly and, for the first time, 40 members to the Legislative Council under a proportional representation system. The election was conducted by the independent Victorian Electoral Commission.
Lynne Janice Kosky was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Government of Victoria. She represented the electoral district of Altona in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party from 1996 to 2010 and held key ministerial posts from 1999 through to her retirement from politics, including the key education and public transport portfolios.
Richard William Wynne is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2022, representing the electorate of Richmond. He served as the Minister for Planning between December 2014 and June 2022 and the Minister for Housing between November 2018 and June 2022. He also served as Minister for Multicultural Affairs between November 2018 and March 2020.
Theo Charles Theophanous is a former Australian politician. He entered politics in 1988 as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Theophanous served from 1988 to 2006 as one of the two members for Jika Jika Province, before the reforms to the Victorian Legislative Council that introduced proportional representation. He served as a Minister in the Kirner Government and as the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council from 1993 until 1999. From 2006 until 2010 he represented the Northern Metropolitan Region and served as Minister in the Bracks and Brumby Governments.
The 2007 Williamstown state by-election was a by-election held on 15 September 2007 for the Victorian Legislative Assembly electorate of Williamstown in suburban Melbourne.
Natalie Maree Hutchins, also known as Natalie Sykes-Hutchins, is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorates of Keilor (2010–2014) and Sydenham (2014–present).
The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incumbent centre-right Coalition minority government, led by Liberal Party leader and Premier Denis Napthine and National Party leader and Deputy Premier Peter Ryan, was defeated by the centre-left Labor Party opposition, led by Daniel Andrews. The Greens won two lower house seats, their first Legislative Assembly seats in a Victorian state election, whilst increasing their share of upper house seats. The new Andrews Ministry was sworn in on 4 December 2014.
Jane Furneaux Garrett was an Australian politician. She was the Labor Party member for Brunswick in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2010 until 2018, when she transferred to the Victorian Legislative Council representing Eastern Victoria.
Thomas Hayes was an Australian politician. He was the Labor Party member for Melbourne in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1924 to 1955.
Malcolm John (Mal) Sandon is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1982 to 1988, representing Chelsea Province, and of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 1996, representing the electorate of Carrum. He served as Minister for Corrections and Minister for Police and Emergency Services in the Kirner government from 1990 to 1992.
The Victorian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party and commonly referred to simply as Victorian Labor, is the Victorian state branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Victorian Labor forms the incumbent government in the state of Victoria and is led by Jacinta Allan, who has served concurrently as Premier of Victoria since 2023.
References
↑ Ainsley Symons (2014), "Anti-Abortion Campaigning and the Political Process," Recorder (Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne Branch) No, 279, March, p.3
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
