Timothy James Holding (born 21 August 1972) is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2013. He served as minister for water; minister for finance, WorkCover and the Transport Accident Commission; and minister for tourism and major events in the Brumby Ministry.

Early life

Holding was educated at Haileybury College and the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1997. From the early 1990s he was active in the Australian Labor Party and

Young Labor Australian Young Labor, also known as the Young Labor Movement or simply Young Labor, is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) representing all ALP members aged between 15 to 26. The organisation operates as a federation with independen ...

; being elected President of Australian Young Labor in 1993; working as an electorate officer to state and federal Members of Parliament, and later as an assistant ministerial adviser, including for Senator Robert Ray (Minister for Defence). He served in 126 Signals Squadron of the

1st Commando Regiment The 1st Commando Regiment (1 Cdo Regt) is an Australian Army Reserve special forces unit, part of Special Operations Command with an integrated structure of regular (full-time) soldiers and reserve (part-time) soldiers, which together with th ...

in the

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

from 1991 until 1993.

Political career

Local government

Holding served on the City of Waverley council between 1992 and 1994.

State government

In 1999, Holding was elected to Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Member for Springvale at the age of 27. In 2002 he was elected the Member for Lyndhurst and appointed minister for manufacturing and exports, and minister for the financial services industry. Earning praise from former premier,

Steve Bracks Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 ...

, as a 'rising star' of the government he was promoted in 2005 to the position of minister for police and emergency services and minister for corrections. Although there was a swing of 3.0% against Labor, Holding easily won the safe Labor seat of Lyndhurst in the 2006 state election by a margin of 25.1%. After the

2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...

, he was given the portfolios of finance (including WorkCover and the Transport Accident Commission) and tourism as well as information and communication technology. Some initially saw this as a demotion, but Premier

described Holding as having done a 'great job' with finance being seen as central to government decision-making with fewer potential political difficulties than the notoriously tricky police portfolio. Due to his relative youth and prominence, Holding has often been touted as a possible future

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 ...

Labor leader. He is recognised for his ability to master complex policy issues and combine this with his political capacity. Holding is well regarded by his colleagues who would value these attributes in the event of a vacancy for the Labor leadership. Holding suffered some criticism for his performance as police minister, however this would be unlikely to effect his chances of promotion given his steady performance in his current portfolios. He was promoted in an August 2007 reshuffle following the ascension of John Brumby to the premiership, receiving the responsibilities he held until the Labor party was voted out in the 2010 election. Holding had been touted as a serious candidate for treasurer, but lost out to John Lenders. On 15 February 2013, Holding announced his resignation as shadow treasurer, shadow minister for industry and as the Member for Lyndhurst.

Post-political career

Since retiring from Parliament, Holding completed a Masters in Advanced Global Studies at SciencesPo in Paris. In February 2018 he was appointed as a Visiting Professor a
King's College
in London.

Disappearance and rescue

On 31 August 2009, Holding was reported missing after he failed to return from a solo hiking expedition of

Mount Feathertop Mount Feathertop is the second-highest mountain in the Australian state of Victoria and is part of the Australian Alps and is located within the Alpine National Park. It rises to and is usually covered in snow from June to September. Unlike m ...

, Victoria's second highest mountain, having walked up the Bungalow Spur. He was due to return at 4pm on Sunday 30 August, but made no contact with his family. Holding was located by the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

and was rescued on 1 September by a Victoria Police helicopter during a large scale search involving the Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad, the State Emergency Service and Bush Search and Rescue Victoria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holding, Tim 1972 births Living people People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne) Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian Army soldiers Melbourne Law School alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Labor Right politicians 21st-century Australian politicians