Michael Paul Crutchfield (born 12 December 1961) is an Australian politician. He was formerly the member for South Barwon 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 ...

Early life

Crutchfield was born 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 ...

, but attended high school in the coastal city of

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

. He studied to become a teacher at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

before returning to

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 ...

and taking up a position as a teacher at Chanel College 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 ...

. Two years later, however, he left the position and took on a position as a career firefighter with the

Country Fire Authority The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a Volunteer fire department, volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia ...

Political career

Crutchfield ran for and was elected to the council of the

City of Greater Geelong The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. I ...

in 1995. He was a popular and high-profile councillor, and subsequently served as the city's mayor from 2000 to 2001. Crutchfield remained on the council after losing the mayoralty, and contested Labor Party preselection for the state seat of South Barwon, which was considered a safe seat for the conservative

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, and had never been won by Labor before in its history. Aided considerably by a statewide landslide victory for Labor, Crutchfield defeated long-serving incumbent Alister Paterson in the 2002 state election, and took up his seat in parliament. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Water and the Environment in 2007. Crutchfield lost his seat in the 2010 state election.

Personal life

He is an avid

Geelong Cats The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park (stadium), Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, South Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The club compe ...

supporter and a former coach and captain of the

South Barwon Football Club South Barwon Football & Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Swans'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the southern suburb of Belmont, Victoria. The South Barwon teams currently compete in the Geelong Football Netball League, ...

. He is married.

References

External links

Michael Crutchfield
Parliamentary handbook information

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crutchfield, Michael 1961 births Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Living people Mayors of Geelong Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly South Barwon Football Club players 21st-century mayors of places in Australia