Denis Vincent Napthine (born 6 March 1952) is an Australian former politician and veterinarian who served as the 47th
premier of Victoria from 2013 to 2014. He held office as the leader of the
Victorian division of the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...
(LPA) and was a member of the
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...
(MLA) for the district of
Portland from 1988 to 2002, before transferring to that of
South-West Coast from 2002 to 2015.
He was elected leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party on 6 March 2013 following the resignation of
Ted Baillieu and was sworn in as premier on the same day. His party lost the
Victorian state election on 29 November 2014 and he announced he would step down as leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, with
Matthew Guy
Matthew Jason Guy (born 6 March 1974) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria since 2006, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council (2006–2014) and Bullee ...
being elected his successor on 4 December.
Early life
Napthine was born in 1952 to Len and Theresa Napthine in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
, Victoria, as the third child in a family of ten children.
Napthine spent his early school years at
Winchelsea State School before attending
Chanel College, a Catholic boys' school in
Lovely Banks near Geelong. After graduating he attended the
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 ...
, where he studied to be a
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
, undertaking a bachelor's and then a master's degree in
veterinary science
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...
. He later completed a master's degree in
business administration
Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization.
Overview
The administration of a business includes the performance o ...
from
Deakin University
Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...
.
Political career

Napthine was elected to the
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...
in
1988 as member for the country seat of
Portland. He was re-elected in
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
,
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
and
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
.
Napthine was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health in 1992 and then promoted to Minister for
Youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
and Community Services in 1996 in
Jeff Kennett
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for ...
's Liberal government, a position he held from 1996 to 1999.
Following the defeat of the Liberal Party at the
1999 election, Kennett resigned as Liberal leader and Napthine was elected to take his place. Napthine had briefly served as Deputy Liberal Leader, having been elected to the position just shortly before Kennett stood down as Liberal Leader. During his term as Opposition Leader the Liberal–
National coalition split, fracturing the opposition parties.
Under Napthine's leadership, the Liberal Party did poorly in the polls and made no significant electoral inroads on the ruling Labor government. Shortly before the
2002 state election, Shadow Health Minister
Robert Doyle challenged Napthine for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Doyle won the leadership by a narrow margin. At this election, Napthine ran in
South-West Coast, essentially a reconfigured version of Portland. Although it was ancestrally Liberal territory, Napthine only managed to hold onto the seat with a significantly reduced margin which fell from 4.9 to only 0.7 points. He was re-elected in
November 2006 with an increased margin.
After the Liberals won the
2010 Victorian election, Napthine was made a member of the Baillieu cabinet. He served as the Minister for Ports, Racing, Regional Cities and Major Projects.
Premier of Victoria
On 6 March 2013, Baillieu resigned as state leader of the Liberal Party and hence as Premier of Victoria. At an emergency meeting of the Liberal partyroom, Napthine—who had turned 61 that day—was elected his successor. After the resignation of
Geoff Shaw from the parliamentary Liberal Party earlier in the day, Napthine began leadership of a minority government, holding 43 seats (44 seats including that of the Speaker) to Labor's 43 seats, with Shaw sitting as an
independent politician
An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicia ...
on the
crossbench
A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...
.
On 28 November 2013 Australian media reported that Napthine had 'secretly assisted' Shaw to draft a
Private Member's Bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...
to change
state abortion legislation which Napthine voted against in 2008.
Napthine refuted the allegations and stated his Government had no plans to change abortion laws,
[ nor would he support any such change. In June 2014 Napthine stated:]"...that while I am Premier of this state, I will not allow Mr Shaw to introduce any legislation seeking to change the abortion laws in Victoria."
During September 2014 Napthine and Daniel Andrews
Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian former politician who served as the 48th premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023. He held office as the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2010 and ...
told the Australian Christian Lobby that they would allow a conscience vote should a private members bill to repeal section eight of the Victorian abortion laws be introduced. Section eight if removed would mean doctors are not required by law to refer a woman who wants an abortion to an abortion doctor or perform the abortion even if they have a conscientious objection.
In May 2014 a parliamentary privileges committee found that Shaw was not diligent in the use of his parliamentary car and fuel card. On 3 June 2014 Shaw told radio station 774 ABC Melbourne that he would support a no confidence motion in the Napthine government. On 11 June 2014, following a Labor move to expel Shaw from Parliament that was defeated on party lines with the support of the speaker, Napthine's government successfully moved a motion that resulted in the Members of the Legislative Assembly suspending Shaw for a period of eleven days, fined and ordered to apologise to the Parliament upon his return. Shaw's suspension followed a period of political instability under Napthine's leadership.
On 29 September 2014, Napthine along with former Minister for Public Transport and Roads Terry Mulder signed what was reported to be a $5.3 billion contract with the now defunct East West Connect consortium to build the controversial East West Link toll road. He has since received a lot of criticism for this, not only for his decision to sign on the eve of the month-long caretaker period before the upcoming November 2014 state election and before two legal cases into the planning approval for the project were resolved, but also for his decision, at the insistence of the East West Connect consortium, to direct the then state treasurer Michael O'Brien to sign a "side letter" guaranteeing the consortium compensation of more than $1 billion in the event that the court cases were successful or if for some other reason the contracts were cancelled (which Labor promised to do if it won the election), which was thought to be a contributing factor in the state having to pay what is thought to amount to $1.1 billion to EWC upon the declaration by the then new Andrews government to suspend work in December 2014, and the contracts eventually being terminated in June 2015. It was also revealed upon the contracts termination and release that the real cost of the Eastern section of East West Link amounted to $10.7 billion, $3.9 billion more than the $6.8 billion estimated cost by the Napthine government. In December 2015, the Victorian Auditor General revealed the cost of both sections of the East West Link would have been close to $22.8 billion in nominal terms.
In opposition
On 29 November 2014, after the Victorian state election, Napthine conceded defeat to Labor led by Daniel Andrews
Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian former politician who served as the 48th premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023. He held office as the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2010 and ...
.
Napthine stated that he intended to serve a full parliamentary term despite losing the Premiership, however on 31 August 2015 he announced his resignation from the Victorian Parliament, which triggered a by-election in his electorate of South-West Coast.
Napthine gave money for John Pesutto
John Pesutto (; born 5 September 1970) is an Australian politician and lawyer who has served as the member for Electoral district of Hawthorn, Hawthorn in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2022 Victorian state election, 2022, having prev ...
's legal case with Moira Deeming. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-21/moira-deeming-john-pesutto-defamation-battle-mp-gifts/103492714
Personal life
Napthine and his wife Peggy have three children. His younger brother, Simon, was the unsuccessful ALP candidate for the federal seat of Flinders at the 2004 election.
Since childhood, Napthine supports the Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
in the Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
.
One of Napthine's ancestors was convict Joseph Potaski.
See also
*2014 Victorian state election
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 incum ...
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Napthine, Denis
1952 births
Living people
Premiers of Victoria
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria
Officers of the Order of Australia
Deakin University alumni
University of Melbourne alumni
Treasurers of Victoria
Leaders of the opposition in Victoria (state)
Australian veterinarians
Politicians from Geelong
21st-century Australian politicians
Ministers for racing (Victoria)
Ministers for youth (Victoria)
Ministers for ports and freight (Victoria)
Ministers for major projects (Victoria)