Timothy Owen Bull (born 9 December 1966) is an Australian politician. He has been 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 presiding ...

since 2010, representing the electorate of Gippsland East. He served as Minister for Local Government and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the

Napthine Ministry The Napthine Ministry was the 68th ministry of the Government of Victoria. It was a Liberal–National Coalition Government, led by the Premier of Victoria, Denis Napthine, and Deputy Premier, Peter Ryan. It succeeded the Baillieu Ministry on ...

from March to December 2014.

Biography

Bull grew up in

Metung, Victoria Metung is a town in East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The town is east of the state capital Melbourne and between the larger towns of Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance. It is on a small peninsula south-east of Bairnsdale, separating Lak ...

on the

Gippsland Lakes The Gippsland Lakes are a network of coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an overall area of about between the rural towns of Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale and Sale. The largest of the lakes are La ...

where he attended Metung Primary School and then Nagle College,

Bairnsdale Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...

. Bull was a newspaper editor, sports program coordinator with the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...

and community advocate in the area of disability services before entering parliament. Prior to entering politics Bull was a country sportsman of note, captaining the Bairnsdale Cricket Association (BCA) team for a number of years and winning three BCA cricketer of the year titles. He also captain coached the East Gippsland Football League (EGFL) interleague team and is a 100-goal kicker in a season. He kicked twelve and ten goals in two grand finals. His interests include spending time in the outdoors with his family fishing and camping, continuing to push for better disability services in rural areas, and "having some fun" as co-host of a local community radio sports show.

Political career

Bull entered Victorian politics at the

2010 Victorian State election The 2010 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 27 November 2010, was for the 57th Parliament of Victoria. The election was to elect all 88 members of the Legislative Assembly and all 40 members of the Legislative Council. The incumbent ce ...

, contesting the electorate of Gippsland East for the National Party. As part of the Coalition's election victory over

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 ...

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 ...

government, Bull ousted the sitting member, Independent

Craig Ingram Craig Ingram (born 25 March 1965) is a former Australian politician, and was the Independent Member of Parliament for Gippsland East in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2010. In 2012 he was appointed as executive officer for the ...

, with a 20-point

two-candidate preferred 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, ...

swing, returning the seat to the National Party. On 17 March 2014, he was made Minister for Local Government and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the

, replacing

Jeanette Powell Elizabeth Jeanette Powell (born 4 February 1949) is a British-born Australian politician. She was a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2014, representing the electorate of Shepparton. She was previousl ...

. He served until the defeat of 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 ...

government that December.

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Tim Bull at Victorian Parliament Tracker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Tim 1966 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria 21st-century Australian politicians