Barry Thomas Pullen (1 November 1939 − 26 June 2024) was an Australian politician. He was a minister in the

Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...

and Kirner

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Victorian State Governments, and held the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

seat of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly ...

from 1982 to 1999.

Early life

Pullen was born in 1939 in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

to parents Thomas Pullen, a fibrous plasterer, and Ellen Roderick. He married Margaret Ackerly, and they had three daughters. Pullen attended Moreland State School, Moreland Central School,

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

High School. He studied at

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and

RMIT The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

to become a civil engineer.

Political career

Pullen joined the Labor Party in 1968 as a member of the Socialist Left faction. He was a founding member of the Fitzroy Residents Association and Fitzroy city councillor 1972–1976. He was very active in campaigning against the high rise

Housing Commission of Victoria The Housing Commission of Victoria (often shortened to Housing Commission, especially Colloquialism, colloquially) was a Government of Victoria body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1938, and was aboli ...

flats being built in the 1950s and 1960s. He was employed as survey assistant, draftsman, technical officer, civil engineer and then Victorian director of

Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development The Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development was an Government of Australia, Australian government department that existed between December 1975 and December 1978. History The Department was announced in December&n ...

, before being elected to the

in 1982. Pullen was Minister for Housing and Construction from 1988 to 1990. Additionally, he was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Minister for the Arts in 1989. In 1990, he became

Minister for Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, then

Minister for Education and Training In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Education administers the Department of Education. The position is held by Labor MP Jason Clare, following the Australian federal election in 2022. Portfolio scope The Minister is responsible f ...

in 1991, as well as Minister for Conservation and Environment in 1992. After the loss by Labor at the state election of 1992, Pullen became shadow Minister for Natural Resources and Shadow Minister for Conservation and Environment. Later, he served as shadow Minister for Conservation and Resource Management from 1993 to 1994, and shadow Minister for Environment from 1994 to 1996. He retired from Parliament in 1999, but remained active in the local community and the Australian Labor Party.

Death

Pullen died on 26 June 2024, at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullen, Barry 1939 births 2024 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Ministers for the environment (Victoria) Politicians from Melbourne RMIT University alumni Ministers for education (Victoria) Ministers for conservation (Victoria)