Elizabeth Jeanette Powell (born 4 February 1949) is a British-born Australian politician. She 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 presidin ...

from 2002 to 2014, representing the electorate of Shepparton. She was previously a 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 C ...

from 1996 to 2002, representing North Eastern Province. Powell was born in

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and emigrated to Australia as a child. After a short time in the

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 ...

suburb of Preston, the family moved to Shepparton in regional Victoria. Prior to entering parliament, Powell held a variety of occupations including film processor, television presenter, singer, marketing and sales, office manager and director of the family auto-electrics business. She was a

Shire of Shepparton The Shire of Shepparton was a local government area in the Goulburn Valley region, about north of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1884 until 1994. From 1927 onwards, Sheppa ...

councillor from 1990 to 1994, and was the shire president from 1993 to 1994. After the 1994 council amalgamations, Powell was appointed as a commissioner with the

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 37,592. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roch ...

from 1994 to 1996. Powell was elected to the Legislative Council seat of North-Eastern Province at the 1996 state election, becoming the first woman to represent the National Party in Victoria. In 2002, she shifted to the Legislative Assembly, successfully retaining the seat of Shepparton for the National Party upon the retirement of long-serving MP

Don Kilgour Donald Kilgour (born 16 April 1946) is a former Australian politician. He was the National member for Shepparton in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1991 to 2002. Kilgour was born in Numurkah, Victoria, to Leonard Leslie Kilgour and Jea ...

. She was appointed state Minister for Local Government and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs following the Liberal-National Coalition's victory at the 2010 election, and served in those roles under both Premiers

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...

and

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 fro ...

. In February 2014 Powell announced that she would not be a candidate at the forthcoming

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 ...

, and in a reshuffle of the Coalition ministry in March 2014, her portfolios were allocated to

Tim Bull Timothy Owen Bull (born 9 December 1966) is an Australian politician. He has been a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, representing the electorate of Gippsland East. He served as Minister for Local Governm ...

. In 2022, Powell was appointed

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Order (distinction), honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of Australia, Queen of Aus ...

in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, and to the community". Powell is married with two sons.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Jeanette 1949 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria English emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Council Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Victoria (Australia) local councillors People from Shepparton