Peter Laurence Crisp (born 22 May 1954) is an Australian politician. He was a member of 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 ...

from 2006 to 2018, representing

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

. He was formerly a

Wentworth Shire Wentworth Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the far south-west Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. This Shire is located adjacent to the Murray River, Murray and Darling Rivers. The Shire's major roads ...

Councillor.

Early life

Crisp holds an engineering degree from Ballarat University and was a horticulturist and milk distributor before entering politics. He also served as the Chairman of the

Sunraysia Sunraysia is a region located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture including grapes and oranges. Its main centre is Mildura, Victoria. The are ...

Citrus Growers, and was on the board of the Australian Citrus Growers.

Political career

Crisp came to prominence as the chairman of the Save the Food Bowl Alliance, a community group opposed to the plans of the Bracks government to build a toxic waste dump at Nowingi, in north-west Victoria. He resigned his position as chairman after winning

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

pre-selection for the local electorate of

, contesting the seat against the Independent

Russell Savage Russell Irwin Savage (born 27 January 1948) is an Australian politician, who was the Independent (politician), independent member for the Victoria, Australia, Victorian Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly seat of Electoral distr ...

. Savage had held Mildura since 1996, and had polled more than 50% of the primary vote in the 2002 election. Crisp was able to out-poll Savage 40% to 33% on primary vote and won the seat on preferences, a 25-point swing against the incumbent. In January 2007, the government abandoned plans to build the Nowingi waste dump after an Environmental Effects Statement recommended against the proposal, as well as acknowledging overwhelming community opposition. Crisp was the Nationals spokesperson for Public Transport and Major Projects from 2006 until February 2008 after the National Party and 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 ...

entered into a coalition. At the

2018 Victorian state election The 2018 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to elect the 59th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) were up for elect ...

, Crisp was defeated by

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Ali Cupper, a former deputy mayor of the

Rural City of Mildura The Rural City of Mildura is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-western part of the state. It covers an area of being the largest LGA in the state. In ...

, with a swing against him of over eight percent.

Personal life

Crisp is married with three children.

Controversy

In early 2014, Crisp was charged with several firearms offences—including possession of a prohibited firearm and the possession of guns without a licence—after reporting the theft of three guns from his farm in New South Wales. He attended a court hearing in June 2014, and was found not guilty of three charges, with another three charges dismissed. He pleaded guilty to failing to prevent the loss or theft of a firearm, and was placed on a good behaviour bond.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crisp, Peter 1954 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Federation University Australia alumni People from Mildura 21st-century Australian politicians