Bronwyn Jane Pike (born 25 January 1956) is an Australian former politician. She was Minister for Education in Victoria in the Brumby Government, and was the Member of Parliament for

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 ...

from 1999 to 2012.

Early life

Prior to entering Parliament, Pike worked as a teacher, a community services manager and as the Director of the Unit of Justice and Social Responsibility in the Uniting Church. She is also a former Board Director of Greenpeace Australia. Pike has a long history of advocating for social change, equality and the disadvantaged. Pike has a son, Paul Coats, who is a former University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association President and an active

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Political career

Pike entered politics in 1999, at age 43. She was appointed the Minister for Housing and Aged Care and Minister Assisting the Health Minister in the government of Steve Bracks. In 2002 she was appointed as Minister for Community Services and Minister Assisting the Premier on Community Building. In May 2007, Pike became the longest-serving female minister in Victoria's history, along with Lynne Kosky. Pike announced her resignation from parliament on 7 May 2012 which triggered a Melbourne by-election. Labor retained the seat, with Jennifer Kanis narrowly defeating the Greens candidate, Cathy Oke.

Minister for Health

Following the re-election of the Bracks government in late 2002, Pike was promoted to

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

Minister for Education

On 2 August 2007, newly-appointed Premier

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) 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 ...

announced a cabinet reshuffle, which moved Pike from

to Minister for Education. Pike spearheaded the $1.9 billion Victorian Schools Plan to rebuild and modernise 500 Victorian schools over the four-year term of government. This included upgrades to technology wings; re-equipping science class rooms; building new schools in growth corridors. A key focus of this rebuilding program is encouraging joint-use of school and community facilities in areas ranging from libraries to sports fields. By 2011 more than 900 schools will have been rebuilt or modernised. The program has been tarnished by use of tactics to force school councils to vote for closure or merger of small schools by threatening to limit funds to the minimum amount as well as other tactics.

Later career

Among her positions since she left politics, Bronwyn Pike is the Chair of UnitingCare Australia and serves on the board of Uniting NSW and ACT. She is a lifelong member of the Uniting Church.

Honours

In 2022, Pike was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2022 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to social welfare and not-for-profit organisations, and to the Parliament of Victoria".

References

External links

Personal Website

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Bronwyn 1956 births 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian schoolteachers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Living people Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for health (Victoria) People educated at Immanuel College, Adelaide University of Adelaide alumni Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for education (Victoria) Ministers for skills and workforce participation (Victoria)