Ronald Alexander Best (3 October 1949 – 14 October 2020) was an Australian politician and

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 ...

er. He was a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1988 to 2002, representing North Western Province.

Career

Best was born in

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

, Victoria. He was a businessman before entering politics. He was a motel and hotel owner and manager and also owned Golden City Frozen Foods. He was on the board of directors of the Glacier Food Group. He contested the federal seat of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

for the National Party of Australia at the 1987 federal election but was defeated. In 1988, Best was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for North Western Province. He was the National Party's spokesman for Housing, Construction and Small Business until 1990 and secretary of the Parliamentary National Party from 1992 to 2002. Following the

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 ...

's defeat in 1999, he was promoted to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Housing. He retired in 2002. He married Liberal MP Louise Asher on 10 February 2001. He is survived by his children from his first marriage, Chris and Elizabeth, and two grandchildren, Ari and Eden.

Football

Best kicked 1919 goals in country football, mostly in the Bendigo Football League. He topped 100 goals in a season on 13 occasions. *1966: 60 Heidelberg, Diamond Valley Football League *1967: 68 Heidelberg *1968: 106 Golden Square, Bendigo Football League *1969: 137 Golden Square *1970: 107 Golden Square *1971: 111 Golden Square *1972: 79 Charlton, North Central Football League *1973: 108 Sandhurst, Bendigo Football League *1974: 135 Sandhurst *1975: 145 Sandhurst *1976: 108 Sandhurst *1977: 25 Sandhurst *1978: 124 Golden Square *1979: 132 Golden Square *1980: 161 Golden Square *1981: 100 Boort, North Central Football League *1982: 25 Boort *1983: 124 Northern United, Bendigo Football League *1984: 64 Northern United

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Ron 1949 births 2020 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Golden Square Football Club players Sandhurst Football Club players Australian hoteliers 21st-century Australian politicians Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Australia Australian rules footballers from Bendigo People from Ivanhoe, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne