Murray Hamilton Ross Thompson (born 27 December 1953) is a former member of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

Legislative Assembly. He was the member for Sandringham in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1992 until his retirement in 2018. He is the son of former Liberal Premier of Victoria Lindsay Thompson.

Early life and education

Thompson was educated at

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

in Melbourne where he served as captain of football and member of debating team (1971–72), and was school captain in 1972. He was a member of the Caulfield Grammarians Cricket Club from 1973 to 1980. Thompson earned both a Bachelor of Arts (1979), a Bachelor of Laws (1981) from Monash University where he was Student Representative on the Law Faculty Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Practice (1979) and Law Student Society Committee Member. His postgraduate study earned him a Diploma of Education (1986) from Melbourne University. Thompson was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er playing as a midfielder for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the

VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

until three knee operations caused him to retire after fourteen senior games.

Career

Thompson was admitted to the Victorian

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in 1982, and set up his own suburban legal practice, practising as a solicitor before being elected as Liberal Member for Sandringham in

1992 Victorian state election The 1992 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 3 October 1992, was for the 52nd Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect all 88 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-me ...

. As a member of Parliament, he served on the Liberal frontbench in a range of portfolios in opposition, from December 2002 until being dumped from the front bench in 2008. Thompson unsuccessfully contested the Liberal Party leadership against then Major Projects Minister Denis Napthine in the ballot resulting from the resignation of Premier Ted Baillieu. In 2008, Thompson voted against legalising abortion in Victoria, and in 2015, voted against banning anti-abortion groups from protesting outside abortion clinics. He retired from parliament at the 2018 Victorian state election.

References

Bibliography

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Murray Thompson at Victorian Parliament TrackerParliamentary page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Murray 1953 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Richmond Football Club players Caulfield Grammarians Football Club players Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Monash Law School alumni Australian sportsperson-politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Politicians from Melbourne