Timothy Hugh Pallas (born 7 January 1960) is an Australian politician. He has been 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 ...
since 2006, representing the electorate of
Tarneit
Tarneit () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. ...
until 2014 and
Werribee
Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census.
Werribee i ...
thereafter. He has served as
Treasurer of Victoria
The Treasurer of Victoria is the title held by the Cabinet Minister who is responsible for the financial management of the budget sector in the Australian state of Victoria. This primarily includes:Andrews Ministry since December 2014. Pallas previously served as Minister for Roads and Ports and Minister for Major Projects in the
Brumby Ministry
The Brumby Ministry was the 66th ministry of the Government of Victoria. It was led by the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, and Deputy Premier, Rob Hulls. It succeeded the Bracks Ministry on 3 August 2007, following the retirement of former P ...
until 2010.
Early career
Prior to entering parliament, Pallas worked as a trade union official with the National Union of Workers, Assistant Secretary of the ACTU and as Chief of Staff to
Premier of Victoria
The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...
Steve Bracks
Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 ...
.
Political career
He first contested the open preselection for the federal seat of
Melbourne Ports
The Division of Melbourne Ports was an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covered an area of appro ...
in 1998, but was defeated by
Michael Danby
Michael David Danby (born 16 February 1955) is an Australian politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1998 until 2019, representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria. Danby was b ...
.
In 2005, Pallas challenged incumbent backbencher Mary Gillett for preselection in the safe seat of
Tarneit
Tarneit () is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. ...
, and with Bracks' backing, was successful. He was easily elected at the 2006 state election, and was immediately appointed to Cabinet, being assigned the roads and ports portfolio.
In 2010, Pallas called Formula One driver
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
a "dickhead" while launching a road safety initiative. Hamilton had been caught by police engaging in an act of 'hoon driving' in a $160,000 Mercedes on the previous Friday night.
During his ministry, he implemented a number of measures to improve traffic flow on the major Victorian freeways including the Monash CityLink West Gate Upgrade. In February, he launched a $5 million study into traffic flow along
Hoddle Street
Hoddle Highway is an urban highway in Melbourne linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway, itself a sub-section of Hoddle Main Road. Both these names are not widely known to most drivers, as the entire allocation is still best known as by the n ...
between
CityLink
CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Australia, linking the Tullamarine, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two exi ...
and the Eastern Freeway. The study had been previously announced in the
Victorian Transport Plan
The Victorian Transport Plan is a now defunct transport planning framework for the state of Victoria, Australia announced on 9 December 2008 by then Premier of Victoria, John Brumby. The plan was submitted to the Government of Australia for fund ...
in 2008. In March, he approved a ban on trucks using the right-hand lane on busy sections of three-lane freeways. The
RACV
The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) is a motoring club and mutual organisation. It offers various services to members, including insurance and roadside assistance.
It has about 30,000 ordinary club members who have access to the lif ...
had campaigned for the ban for two years, attracting support from an "overwhelming 83% of motorists tsurveyed".
Transferring to the electorate of Werribee following a boundary redistribution, Pallas was again successful 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 ...
and was appointed Treasurer in 2014 after the election of the Andrews Labor Government in November 2014. His first budget in May 2015 provided for the biggest spend on education in Victoria's history.
Pallas was additionally appointed Minister for Trade in June 2022.
He was elected for a fifth time at 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 ...
.
Originally a member of
Labor Right
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 ...
, Pallas defected to
Labor Left
The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction.
The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...
along with six of his colleagues shortly after the 2022 Victorian state election; his defection meant that the positions of Premier, Deputy Premier and Treasurer were all held by members of Labor Left, and also ensured that Labor Left constituted a majority of the state Labor caucus.
Personal life
Pallas resides in Williamstown, approximately 20km away from his electorate of Werribee.