Michael John Clyde Ronaldson (born 13 February 1954) is a former Australian politician. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the state of Victoria representing the

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 ...

from July 2005 until February 2016, and previously served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

for

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

from 1990 to 2001. Ronaldson served as the

Minister for Veterans' Affairs The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowe ...

, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC, and the

Special Minister of State Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

in the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

from 2013 to 2015.

Background and early career

Ronaldson was born in

, Victoria and attended Ballarat College before studying law at 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 ...

. Admitted to the Bar, Ronaldson practised as a barrister and solicitor in Ballarat before entering politics. In 1981, Ronaldson was elected to the Ballarat City Council, where he served two terms as a councillor.

Political career

A member of the

since 1980, Ronaldson was elected to the

for the seat of

in 1990. His election, along with several other Victorian MHRs first elected in March 1990, was largely a result of a protest vote swing against the Labor (John Cain) state government of the time. At his election, he held the seat with a margin of 1.9%. His grandfather, Archibald Fisken, was the member for Ballarat from 1934 until 1937. During his time in the House of Representatives, Ronaldson served as the Shadow Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training. Following the election of the

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

government at the 1996 federal election, Ronaldson was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Development. After the 1998 election he was appointed Chief Government Whip. Following his retirement from the House of Representatives at the 2001 election, Ronaldson was a consultant and member of a number of boards including

Snowy Hydro Limited Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme that consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connected ...

. He was co-chair of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial project in Ballarat where he assisted with fundraising. He served on the Administrative Committee of the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) from 2001 to 2004. Ronaldson has been a member of the Liberal Party for more than 30 years.

Senator for Victoria

At the 2004 federal election Ronaldson was elected to the Senate representing the state of Victoria, and his term began on 1 July 2005. Following the 2007 election, Ronaldson was appointed Shadow Special Minister of State under

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is an Australian business leader, physician and former politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European ...

. He served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary in September 2008 until December 2009. After the 2010 federal election Ronaldson was appointed Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader of the Opposition on the Centenary of ANZAC. He assumed the portfolios as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC and Special Minister of State on 18 September 2013, but was replaced in the First Turnbull Ministry when

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

replaced

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

as prime minister. He announced on 18 December 2015 his intention to leave parliament before the next election, after moving from the outer ministry in the

to the backbench in the

Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...

. He said he would formally resign from parliament once his Liberal replacement was selected. His resignation became effective on 28 February 2016, creating a

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

which was filled on 9 March 2016 when James Paterson was appointed by a joint sitting of the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, represent ...

After politics

Ronaldson was appointed to the board of

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

in May 2016.Michael Ronaldson - Non-Executive Director, Australia Post
Business News, accessed 2023-08-23 He was board member of the Oliver Foundation from 2018, Director of the State Sports Centre Trust (Victoria) from 2020 to 2021, and chairman of the board at InnoWell Pty Ltd.Hon Michael Ronaldson - Chairman of the Board at InnoWell Pty Ltd

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

, accessed 2023-08-23

Personal life

Ronaldson has been married to Cate Ronaldson since 1983, and has three children.''Who's Who in Australia'', 2015. He survived a bout with

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, a lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include ...

in 1996.

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Michael Ronaldson on TheyVoteForYou.org.au

Former Senator Michael Ronaldson
- Website of Australian Parliament House {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronaldson, Michael 1954 births Living people People educated at Ballarat Clarendon College Melbourne Law School alumni Australian barristers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ballarat Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Abbott government Turnbull government Government ministers of Australia Victoria (state) local councillors 21st-century Australian politicians Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996 Australian MPs 1996–1998 Australian MPs 1998–2001