James Anthony Merlino (born 19 August 1972) is an Australian retired politician who served as the member for

Monbulk Monbulk is a town in Victoria, Australia, 42 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Monbulk recorded a population of 3,651 at the 2021 census. The town is the hom ...

in 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 ...

, as a member of the Labor Party. He served as

Deputy Premier of Victoria The deputy premier of Victoria is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Victoria. The deputy premier position was created in May 1932, with Robert Menzies being the first person to hold the position. The deputy premier is appointe ...

and Minister for Education from December 2014 until June 2022 in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Second Andrews Ministry.

Political career

Merlino was elected at the 2002 state election defeating

Steve McArthur Stephen James "Steve" McArthur (born 17 November 1951) is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for Monbulk in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 2002. McArthur was born in Mildura to Harold Alexander and Glori ...

. Merlino comfortably retained his seat at the state election in 2006 and became the Minister for Sport and Recreation and Youth Affairs, securing a place in cabinet. Under new Premier

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

's government he retained that ministry and gained a new role as Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs. He subsequently became Police Minister following the resignation of the previous Minister. When the ALP lost government in the 2010 state election, Merlino became Shadow Minister for Police, the TAC and Road Safety. In February 2012, he was elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party in Victoria, following the resignation of

Rob Hulls Rob Justin Hulls (born 23 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2012, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, ...

, becoming deputy leader of the opposition With the election of the Andrews Labor Government in late 2014, Merlino became Deputy Premier and Education Minister. On 10 June 2016, Merlino also became Minister for Emergency Services following the resignation of Brunswick MP

Jane Garrett Jane Furneaux Garrett (16 March 1973 – 2 July 2022) was an Australian politician. She was the Labor Party member for Brunswick in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2010 until 2018, when she transferred to the Victorian Legislative Cou ...

from the Andrews Ministry. In March 2021, Merlino became the Acting Premier of Victoria, after Daniel Andrews fell down a flight of stairs while holidaying on the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...

, suffering several broken ribs and a broken vertebra from the fall. Merlino was Acting Premier until Andrews returned to work on June 28. In June 2022, Merlino announced his retirement from politics and did not contest the November state election. He stepped down from his ministerial roles on 27 June. Merlino was a member of Labor's right faction. He is a Catholic.

Football

In December of 2022 he was part of the successful

Andrew Gowers Andrew Gowers (born 1957) was appointed editor of the ''Financial Times'' in October 2001. He resigned from this post in November 2005 citing "strategic differences". In March 2012 he was appointed Director of External Relations at the Association ...

ticket in the board election.https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/1257898/election-results-announced

References

External links

James Merlino at re-member
1972 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian Roman Catholics Labor Right politicians Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Deputy Premiers of Victoria Australian politicians of Italian descent 21st-century Australian politicians Hawthorn Football Club administrators {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub