Lisa Mary Neville (born 27 May 1964) is a former Australian politician, formerly serving as the member for Bellarine in 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 ...

. She represented the Labor Party. Between 2014 and 2022, she was the Minister for Police and the Minister for

Water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

. She also held other portfolios such as environment, climate change and emergency services at different times during this period.

Early life and education

Neville was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. Her father worked for the airline

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

, and the family moved around Australia and Papua New Guinea before settling in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Neville attended Mount Alvernia College, and then completed an arts degree at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

. At university, she was involved in student unionism, initially with the Queensland Union of Students and then as general secretary and president of the National Union of Students in

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 ...

. She worked as a community visitor, inspecting residential facilities for the elderly and disabled on behalf of the state Public Advocate.

Political career

Neville first entered parliament at the 2002 election winning the marginal Liberal seat of Bellarine. After spending her first term on the backbench, she was promoted to the positions of Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Children and

Minister for Aged Care The Minister for Aged Care and Seniors is a position in the Australian Government responsible for oversight of aged care in Australia alongside the Minister for Health and Ageing, who is the senior minister providing direction and oversight of t ...

after the 2006 election. Neville was named the Shadow Minister for Environment, Climate Change and the Arts by leader

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 ...

following Labor's loss in the

2010 Victorian state election The 2010 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 27 November 2010, was for the 57th Parliament of Victoria. The election was to elect all 88 members of the Legislative Assembly and all 40 members of the Legislative Council. The incumbent ...

. Neville was made Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Minister for

following the

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 ...

. Following a cabinet reshuffle in May 2016 Lisa Neville was appointed as the first female Minister for Police in Victoria, and retained her water portfolio. In February 2021, Neville was admitted to the hospital and was forced to take leave due to

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, abdominal distension, and weight loss. Complications outside of the ...

. She returned to work in August 2021. The nature of her

emergency services Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety, security, and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while ot ...

portfolio required regular travel around to remote parts of the state at short notice, which was not suitable for her medical condition, forcing her to relinquish the portfolio. In June 2022, Neville announced she would retire at the November state election, citing her Crohn's disease medical condition. She stepped down from her ministerial role on 27 June 2022, and her term as a member of Bellarine ended on 26 November 2022.

Personal life

Neville was previously married to, and has a son with,

Richard Marles Richard Donald Marles (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician and lawyer serving as the 19th and current deputy prime minister of Australia and the Minister for Defence (Australia), minister for Defence since May 2022. He has been the ...

, who later became the federal MP for Corio and the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Lisa 1964 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for the environment (Victoria) Griffith University alumni Deakin University alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Labor Right politicians Politicians from Brisbane Ministers for water (Victoria) Ministers for mental health (Victoria) Ministers for children (Victoria) Ministers for ageing (Victoria) Ministers for climate action (Victoria)