Roma Clare Britnell (née Hussey; born 17 January 1967) is an Australian politician. She was elected to 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

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 for South-West Coast, at a

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 ...

in 2015. She was re-elected in 2018 and appointed to the opposition front bench as Shadow Minister for Rural Roads, and Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight. Britnell attended St Ann's College in Warrnambool, and trained as a nurse at Warrnambool Base Hospital. She worked as a nurse for almost 30 years and spend 15 years working in community health at the

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...

Aboriginal Community. Prior to her election, Britnell was the vice-president of United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV), chairwoman of WestVic Dairy and was a Nuffield Farming Scholar in 2011. Britnell also served on a number of boards including the Geoffrey Gardner Foundation, Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority, Australian Dairy Farmers Federation, was Policy Councillor with the

Victorian Farmers Federation The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is an Australian non-profit membership based advocacy and lobby group that represents farmers in Victoria. The organisation represents its members in lobbying state and federal government on policy matters th ...

, was a member of the Great South Coast Group's Economic Pillar and a committee member of the Warrnambool City Council's Food and Agriculture into China project. She was named Victorian Rural Woman of The Year in 2009 and was named Australian Rural Woman of the Year in the same year

2015 by-election

Britnell was pre-selected by the

to contest the by-election to replace the retiring member for South-West Cost, former Premier

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 ...

. At the

held on 31 October 2015, Britnell obtained 40 per cent of the primary vote and claimed victory after preferences were distributed, winning 60.6 per cent of the

two-candidate-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

against perennial candidate Roy Reekie, who secured 39.4 per cent.

2018 Victorian Election

Britnell re-contested the seat for the Liberal Party at the 2018 state election. A total of nine candidates nominated, including incumbent

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member of the Legislative Council for

Western Victoria Region Western 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 in ...

James Purcell James Purcell may refer to: * James Purcell (actor), American actor and filmmaker * James Purcell (businessman), Australian businessman * James Purcell (mountain man), American mountain man of the 19th century * James Purcell (politician), Austr ...

, and former mayors of the

City of Warrnambool The City of Warrnambool is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 34,862. It is entirely surroun ...

, Kylie Gaston (

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

) and Michael Neoh (independent), and former mayor of the Moyne Shire, Jim Doukas (

Australian Country Party The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...

). Britnell's primary vote dropped to 32 per cent, with Labor Candidate Kylie Gaston obtaining 24 percent (a 3 percent drop in the Labor vote) and James Purcell obtaining almost 17 per cent. After the distribution of preferences, Britnell was elected with an 8.66 percent swing on a two-party-preferred basis. Britnell was sworn in for her second term on 19 December.

Shadow minister

On 14 December 2018, the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

, Michael O'Brien, announced that Britnell had been appointed the Shadow Minister for Rural Roads, and Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Roma Britnell at Victorian Parliament Tracker
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Britnell, Roma 1967 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian farmers Dairy farmers 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians