Elizabeth Jeanette Powell (born 4 February 1949) is a British-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician. She was a

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

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 ...

from 2002 to 2014, representing the electorate of

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

. She was previously a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

from 1996 to 2002, representing North Eastern Province. Powell was born in

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civil parish population was 11,184 (5,265 males, 5,919 femal ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and emigrated to

as a child. After a short time in the

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 ...

suburb of Preston, the family moved to

in regional Victoria. Prior to entering parliament, Powell held a variety of occupations including film processor, television presenter, singer, marketing and sales, office manager and director of the family auto-electrics business. She was a Shire of Shepparton councillor from 1990 to 1994, and was the shire president from 1993 to 1994. After the 1994 council amalgamations, Powell was appointed as a commissioner with the

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in August 2021 had a population of 38,735. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roc ...

from 1994 to 1996. Powell was elected to the Legislative Council seat of North-Eastern Province at the 1996 state election, becoming the first woman to represent the

in Victoria. In 2002, she shifted to the Legislative Assembly, successfully retaining the seat of Shepparton for the National Party upon the retirement of long-serving MP

Don Kilgour Donald Kilgour (born 16 April 1946) is a former Australian politician. He was the National member for Shepparton in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1991 to 2002. Kilgour was born in Numurkah, Victoria, to Leonard Leslie Kilgour and Jea ...

. She was appointed state Minister for Local Government and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs following the Liberal-National Coalition's victory at the 2010 election, and served in those roles under both Premiers

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Victorian Liberal Party, Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, represe ...

and

Denis Napthine 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 Austr ...

. In February 2014 Powell announced that she would not be a candidate at the forthcoming

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 ...

, and in a reshuffle of the Coalition ministry in March 2014, her portfolios were allocated to

Tim Bull Timothy Owen Bull (born 9 December 1966) is an Australian politician. He has been a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorate of Gippsland East. He served as Minister for Local Governme ...

. In 2022, Powell was appointed

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

2022 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for "significant service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, and to the community". Powell is married with two sons.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Jeanette 1949 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria British emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Council Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Victoria (state) local councillors People from Shepparton Ministers for treaty and first peoples (Victoria) Ministers for local government (Victoria)