Michael Robert Polley (born 4 November 1949 in

Westbury, Tasmania Westbury is a town in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 30 km west of Launceston on the Bass Highway, and at the had a population of 2,272. It is part of, and the headquarters of, the Meander Valley Council area. The town ...

) is a Labor Party politician and former member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

in the

Division of Lyons The Division of Lyons () is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in Tasmania. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions b ...

. He was first elected in 1972 at the age of 22. Polley remains the longest-serving politician in Tasmanian history. He was the youngest Cabinet Minister in Tasmanian history, appointed at the age of 27 in the government of premier Doug Lowe. His wife Kim Polley is Mayor of

Northern Midlands Council Northern Midlands Council is a local government body in Tasmania, extending south of Launceston into the northern region of the Tasmanian central midlands. Northern Midlands is classified as a rural local government area and has a populatio ...

, on which his son Tim also serves. His sister

Helen Polley Helen Beatrice Polley (born 9 February 1957) is an Australian politician who is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate, representing the state of Tasmania since 1 July 2005. Early life and education Born in Ulverstone, Tasma ...

is a member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

. In 1989 during the

Field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

government he was made the speaker of the

. He became speaker again in 1998 when Labor won government. He was minister for national parks 1976–1981. In the Tasmanian state election 2006, Polley received the highest primary vote in Lyons. Polley announced in June 2013 that he would retire at the

2014 Tasmanian state election The 2014 Tasmanian state election was held on 15 March 2014 to elect all 25 members to the House of Assembly. The 16-year incumbent Labor government, led by the Premier of Tasmania Lara Giddings, sought to win a fifth consecutive term in gover ...

. In September 2014 Polley announced he would stand as councillor for the Northern Midlands Council in the 2014 Tasmanian Local Government Elections. He is married with two sons and one daughter.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polley, Michael 1949 births Living people Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Speakers of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Members of the Order of Australia People from Westbury, Tasmania Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians