Nick Wakeling | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Higher Education and Skills | |
| In office 17 March 2014 –4 December 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Hall |
| Succeeded by | Steve Herbert (as Minister for Training and Skills) |
| Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Ferntree Gully | |
| In office 25 November 2006 –26 November 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Anne Eckstein |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 May 1971 St Leonards,New South Wales |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Website | nickwakeling.org.au |
Nicholas Wakeling (born 6 May 1971) is an Australian former politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly,representing the electorate of Ferntree Gully from 2006 until his defeat at the 2022 Victorian state election.
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Wakeling was born at St Leonards, New South Wales, the eldest of two sons to Bill and Jacqueline Wakeling.
Moving to Melbourne as a child, Wakeling attended Rosewood Downs Primary School and completed his VCE at Haileybury College, Melbourne.
Wakeling completed a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University, a Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations/Human Resource Management from RMIT and a master's degree in Industrial and Employee Relations from Monash University.
Prior to his entry to Parliament, Wakeling worked as an industrial advisor with the Victorian government's Wageline Department; as an industrial officer with the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC); as a human resource advisor at Nillumbik Shire Council and as a senior workplace relations advisor for Adecco.
Wakeling joined the Liberal Party in 1989. Since joining, Wakeling has been an active member of the La Trobe University Liberal Club, the Noble Park Young Liberals (Australia) and Rowville Senior Party Branch.
Wakeling was a councillor at Knox City Council from 2003 to 2005.
In July 2005, Wakeling was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the electoral district of Ferntree Gully. At the November 2006 Victorian state election, Wakeling defeated the incumbent ALP member, Anne Eckstein, by 27 votes.
In 2008, Wakeling was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition.
At the 2010 state election, Wakeling recorded a swing of almost 12% to take the electorate from the Liberal Party's most marginal to safe seat status. [1]
From 2010 to 2014, Wakeling served as Parliamentary Secretary for Health. He was appointed Minister for Higher Education and Skills in March 2014, serving until the defeat of the Coalition government at the 2014 state election. [2]
Wakeling supported Matthew Guy's successful 2021 bid to replace Michael O’Brien as Leader of the Opposition. As of late 2021, Wakeling is the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Trade. [3]
Prior to Matthew Guy's directive to Liberal Party MPs that they were not to address protestors opposing health measures in Victoria, [4] Wakeling was criticised for being one of a number of Liberal Party MPs who attended one of these rallies, which featured a number violent threats against the Premier from members of ‘fringe’ protest groups. [5]
Wakeling was defeated at the 2022 Victorian state election by Labor's Jackson Taylor. [6]
The City of Knox is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 114 square kilometres (44.0 sq mi) and in 2020, Knox had a population of 165,147. This municipality is one of only a handful that survived the widespread municipal amalgamations that occurred in Victoria in the early 1990s.
Bayswater is a residential and industrial suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km (17 mi) east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Bayswater recorded a population of 12,262 at the 2021 census.
Ferntree Gully railway station is a commuter railway station on the Belgrave line, serving the eastern Melbourne suburb of Ferntree Gully in Victoria, Australia. Ferntree Gully is a ground level premium station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 5 December 1889, with the current station provided in 1976.
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The Division of Aston is an Australian Federal Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, coextensive with the City of Knox local government area. The suburbs in the division include Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Knoxfield, Rowville, Scoresby, The Basin, Wantirna and Wantirna South; and parts of Lysterfield, Sassafras and Upper Ferntree Gully.
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The electoral district of Bayswater is one of the electoral districts of Victoria, Australia, for the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers an area of 39 square kilometres (15 sq mi) in outer eastern Melbourne, and includes the suburbs of Bayswater, Heathmont, Kilsyth South and The Basin, and parts of Bayswater North, Boronia, Ringwood and Wantirna. It lies within the Eastern Metropolitan Region of the upper house, the Legislative Council.
The electoral district of Ferntree Gully was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It was created in 2002 as a replacement for the abolished electorate of Knox.
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Anne Lore Eckstein is an Australian former politician.
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Jackson George Taylor is an Australian politician and former local government councillor. He has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2018, representing the electorate of Bayswater.
The 2022 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election was an election to appoint the leader of the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition after the 2022 Victorian state election. Matthew Guy, who had held these roles since September 2021 and previously in 2018 resigned after the Coalition's defeat to the Australian Labor Party at the November election.