Donna-Lee Petrovich (born 15 November 1963) was an Australian politician. She 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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

from 2006 to 2013, representing

Northern Victoria Region Northern Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created i ...

. She resigned with a year remaining of her second term in order to contest the 2013 federal election in the seat of

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, but was defeated by Labor incumbent Rob Mitchell. Petrovich was born in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

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. She commenced her working life at her families business, Bynon Industries. Some of her community work involved being the marketing executive of the Central Victorian Racing Club and the Hanging Rock Racing Club. She was also very active in the local Liberal Party branches. She won the Hanging Rock Ward in the Macedon Ranges Shire Council 2000 General Election on first preferences of 50.5%. She again won this ward in the 2003 General Election on first preferences of 50.83%. She served the Council as Deputy and then Mayor during this period. She did not contest the 2005 Council General Election. Prior to the

2006 Victorian state election The 2006 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 25 November 2006, was for the 56th Parliament of Victoria. Just over 3 million Victorians registered to vote elected 88 members to the Legislative Assembly and, for the first time, 40 member ...

, she won preselection for the second position on the Liberal ticket in Northern Victoria, with Shepparton's

Wendy Lovell Wendy Ann Lovell (born 11 August 1959) is an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, New South Wales, she was a newsagent before becoming involved in politics. She held numerous posts with the Liberal Party, and was eventually elected to the Vi ...

in the top position. In February 2008, she was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Services. She was re-elected in the 2010 election, and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment in the new coalition government. She was also a Member of the Law Reform Committee. Petrovich resigned from the Legislative Council on 1 July 2013 to contest the electorate of

. She was defeated by incumbent Labor MP Rob Mitchell. 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 incumb ...

, Petrovitch contested the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

seat of

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for the Liberal Party, but was defeated by Labor candidate

Mary-Anne Thomas Mary-Anne Thomas (born 26 February 1963) is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the electorate of Macedon. She has served as Victoria's Minister for ...

. Petrovich also controversially nominated for the Liberal Party preselection contest for the South West Coast seat vacated by former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Denis Napthine Denis Vincent Napthine (born 6 March 1952) is a former Australian politician who was the 47th Premier of Victoria. Napthine was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of Portland from ...

. The endorsed Liberal Party candidate, and eventual winner of the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

Roma Britnell Roma Clare Britnell (née Hussey; born 17 January 1967) is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a Liberal Party member for South-West Coast, at a by-election in 2015. She was re-elected in 2018 and ...

, defeated all other preselection candidates in the first round of voting, receiving more than 50% of the delegate votes.

References

1963 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council People from Bendigo Women mayors of places in Victoria (Australia) 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Council Mayors of places in Victoria (Australia) {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub