Luke Anthony Donnellan (born 26 March 1966) is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor 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 ...

between 2002 and his retirement in 2022, representing

Narre Warren North Narre Warren North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Narre Warren North recorded a population of 8,033 at the 2 ...

. He was the Minister for Child Protection and the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers in the Second Andrews Ministry from December 2018 until October 2021. He also served as the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and Minister for Ports in the First Andrews Ministry from December 2014 to December 2018. He was a key figure in the lease of the Port of Melbourne, and led negotiations with cross benchers to enable the legislation to pass through the Victorian Parliament. He is associated with the

Labor Unity The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

faction.

Political career

Entry into politics

In 2002, Donnellan was preselected as the Labor candidate for

, a new seat with a notional

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

majority. He defeated the Liberal candidate and has held the seat since. In 2006, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury and Finance, and was promoted in August 2007 to Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier.

Andrews Government

Following Labor's win 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 ...

, Donnellan was appointed Minister for Roads and Road Safety and Minister for Ports by Premier

Daniel Andrews Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian politician serving as the 48th and current premier of Victoria since December 2014. He has been the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since December ...

. After Labor's reelection in 2018 Donnellan was appointed Minister for Child Protection and Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers. In an

Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) is Victoria's anti-corruption agency with jurisdiction over the public sector. It does this by: * investigating serious corruption and police misconduct * informing the public sector, ...

(IBAC) hearing in October 2021, an admitted branch-stacker federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne claimed that Donnellan was involved in Byrne's activities. Subsequently, Donnellan resigned from the Victorian Cabinet. On 13 December 2021, Donnellan was not preselected again for

by the Socialist Left-dominated ALP National Executive and as a result will not run for re-election in the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) were up for el ...

Personal life

Donnellan was born in

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 ...

, and attended

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. Th ...

1977–84 where he was involved in sports, captaining the hockey team and competing in 1sts rowing. He received a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1987 and became a commercial real estate agent. After periods as a planning finance consultant and a client services manager, he became an advisor to various

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MPs, and was a member of the Administrative Committee from 1999. Donnellan lives in

Fitzroy North Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cites of Merri-bek and Yarra local government areas. Fitzroy North recorded a population of 1 ...

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Luke Donnellan at Victorian Parliament Tracker

Website

Member Profile

Facebook page
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Luke 1966 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Labor Right politicians Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians People educated at Xavier College Politicians from Melbourne People from Fitzroy, Victoria