Hugh Francis Delahunty (born 28 June 1949) is an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of 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 ...

from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorates of

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Austral ...

(1999–2002) and Lowan (2002–2014). He served as Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Veterans Affairs in the Baillieu and Napthine

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

governments from 2010 to 2014. Delahunty is the brother of former state Labor minister

Mary Delahunty Mary Elizabeth Delahunty (born 7 June 1951) is an Australian journalist and politician with the Labor Party. Early life Delahunty was born in the Victorian town of Murtoa and educated at Loreto College in Ballarat.''Who's Who in Australia ...

Political career

Delahunty was elected to the

in the 1999 election to represent the electorate of Wimmera with 58% of the two party preferred vote. He was returned to Parliament at the 2002 election after a redistribution as the Member for Lowan with 67% of the two party vote, and was re-elected at the 2006 election with a massive 72% of the two party vote. Delahunty is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee, a board member of

VicHealth The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation is a statutory authority in the Australian state of Victoria, originally funded by hypothecated taxation raised by the ''Victorian Tobacco Act 1987''. It was the first health promotion body in the wo ...

and is a charter member of the Lions Club of State Parliament Victoria. He retired from politics in 2014.

Personal life

Delahunty was born and educated in

Murtoa Murtoa is a wheat district town in Victoria, Australia, situated around Lake Marma on the Wimmera Highway, north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. The town is in the Shire of Yarriambiack local government area. At the , Murtoa had a popul ...

, a wheat district town in country

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. His secondary education was at

Monivae College Monivae College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational high day and boarding school of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) tradition located in , Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. Set ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and further studies at the William Angliss Food and Trade School,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He farmed for four years on the family grain and sheep property before moving to Melbourne and later

Donald Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

before settling in

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Delahunty worked as a Meat Industry Standards Officer until 1990 when he commenced employment as a Rural Affairs Adviser for the Office of Rural Affairs (Agriculture Victoria and later

Department of Sustainability and Environment The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) was a state government department that managed water resources, climate change, bushfires, public land, forests and eco systems in the state of Victoria, Australia. It was created in 2002 whe ...

). During the early 1970s he played

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 ...

in the

Victorian Football League 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 ...

(VFL) with

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

. Recruited from Murtoa, Delahunty made 46 senior appearances for Essendon and kicked 18 goals. A keen sportsman, Delahunty participated in and coached many sports in the Wimmera and is a life member of the Murtoa Football Club. Delahunty has been actively involved in community activities for many years. He was a Councillor and Mayor for the former Horsham City Council, Chairman of Commissioners of the Mildura Rural City, and the first Mayor and a Councillor of the new Horsham Rural City Council. Delahunty is married with three adult sons. He is the brother of former Labor Party Victorian Government minister

. His younger brother, Mike Delahunty, played football for Collingwood.

References

External links

Official website

The Nationals – Victoria
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Delahunty, Hugh National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Essendon Football Club players Murtoa Football Club players Australian sportsperson-politicians 1949 births Living people