Valerie Joy Callister (born 16 June 1950) is a former Australian politician. She was born in

Leongatha Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869. Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...

to farmer Herbert Charles Callister and Alma Joyce. She attended local state schools and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

, a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the ...

from the State College of Victoria, and a Graduate Diploma in Health Administration from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

. She worked as a schoolteacher, teaching at

Traralgon Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

from 1975 to 1981. She joined the Labor Party in 1976, and in a 1981 by-election 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 the member for

Morwell Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne. Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the . It is both the seat of local governme ...

. She was briefly unseated on a technicality in 1984, but served until 1988, when she retired. Following her retirement she worked as the regional Gippsland coordinator for Alcohol and Drug Services (1989–92), the Victorian state director of Greening Australia (1989–91), manager of the

Moe Moe, MOE, MoE or m.o.e. may refer to: In arts and entertainment Characters * Moe Szyslak, from the animated television show ''The Simpsons'' * Moe, leader of The Three Stooges, played by Moe Howard * Moe Higurashi, supporting character in ''Yash ...

Narracan The electoral district of Narracan is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in Australia. It was first proclaimed in 1967 and has usually been held by the Liberal Party. The electorate covers the provincial Warragul-Drouin ...

and Traralgon Community Health Centres (1992–95), operations manager (1995–97) and CEO (1997–2003) of the Latrobe Community Health Centre, president of the Latrobe Regional Hospital Board (2000–02) and regional director of the Department of Human Services (from 2002).

References

1950 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People from Leongatha Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly {{Australia-politician-stub