Ryan James Smith (born 2 April 1969) is an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

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 2023, representing the electorate of

Warrandyte Warrandyte ( ) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 24 km north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham Local government areas of Victoria, ...

. He was Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Youth Affairs from 2010 to 2014, serving in both the Baillieu and Napthine governments.

Career

Smith worked in various roles in financial services prior to entering politics, including as a treasury officer for North Limited from 1989 to 1992, a currency dealer for the

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

from 1992 to 1994, a treasury officer for BP Finance from 1994 to 1999, a finance officer for

Orica Orica Limited () is an Australian-based multinational corporation that is one of the world's largest providers of commercial explosives and blasting systems to the mining, quarrying, oil and gas, and construction markets, a supplier of sodium c ...

from 1999 to 2000, a foreign exchange specialist for Suncorp Metway from 2000 to 2002, and as a manager with the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

from 2003 to 2006. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 2006 state election, succeeding retiring veteran Liberal MP Phil Honeywood. He was shadow parliamentary secretary for environment and the arts from 2008 to 2009, before being promoted to the shadow ministry, serving as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Shadow Minister for Manufacturing from 2009 to 2010. Upon the Liberal-National victory at the 2010 election, Smith was appointed Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Youth Affairs. Smith lost his ministerial responsibilities following the defeat of the Liberal-National coalition at the

2014 Victorian state election The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incum ...

. During 2014 Lisa Neville, a Labor MP, accused Smith of insulting her. Smith rejected the claim. In 2015 Smith voted for banning anti abortion protesters from protesting outside abortion clinics. Smith voted against legalising abortion in Victoria during 2008. In December 2014 Ryan Smith was appointed Shadow Minister for Roads until 2017 when he was made Shadow Minister for Cost of Living and Shadow Special Minister of State. After the Liberal party loss during the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Victorian Legislat ...

, Smith announced his candidacy for the 2022 Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) leadership election. A few days later he would withdraw and announce his support for

Brad Battin Bradley William Battin (born 12 December 1975) is an Australian politician who has served as the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party since 27 December 2024, and as member for Berwick in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2022. He was ...

for the leadership election. On 31 May 2023, he announced that he would resign from parliament on 7 July, to take up a job in the corporate sector. He said his reasons included discomfort with the growing negative tone of politics.

Personal life

Smith was born in Greensborough and was educated at Lilydale High School. Smith is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ryan 1969 births Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for the environment (Victoria) Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria 21st-century Australian politicians People from Greensborough, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne Ministers for youth (Victoria) Ministers for climate action (Victoria)