Gregory John Barber (born 31 August 1966) is a former

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

politician, who was a Greens member of the

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between 2006 and 2017.

Early career

Barber obtained a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(MBA) from the

Melbourne Business School Melbourne Business School (MBS) is the graduate business school of the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The School offers an MBA program, specialist Masters programs, a doctoral program, and executive education programs. The MBS He ...

and was a successful investor. He became a corporate campaigner for The Wilderness Society. He was involved in the community campaign which led to the creation of the Plenty Gorge Park. Barber was also media manager for Cities for Climate Protection, and

Bicycle Victoria A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

. He has also campaigned for

Environment Victoria Environment Victoria, formerly the Conservation Council of Victoria, is an Australian not-for-profit, charitable group and Victoria's peak non-government environment organisation. It works in collaboration with over 150 groups Australia-wide to p ...

, the Tenants' Union, and the

Medical Association for Prevention of War The Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) is a professional not-for-profit organisation which has promoted peace and disarmament since its foundation in 1981. The organisation is apolitical, and utilises research, consultation, ad ...

.Elected Greens Victoria
Greg Barber MLC
/ref> He is the

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referre ...

of Senator

Richard Di Natale Richard Luigi Di Natale (born 6 June 1970) is a former Australian politician who was a senator for Victoria. He was also the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Di Natale was elected to the Senate in the 2010 federal election. A ...

Local politics

Barber was elected to the

City of Yarra The City of Yarra is a local government area (LGA) in Victoria, Australia in the inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It is the second smallest LGA in the state with an area of , and in June 2018 it had a population of 98,521, ma ...

Local Council in 2002. He was Chair of Finance of the Council, and in 2003 was elected Mayor. He was the first Australian Greens

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of a local government in the country. During his time as Mayor, Barber and his Greens colleagues accomplished an increase in spending on bicycle paths and conducted soil contamination surveys of playgrounds and child care centres. He also organised the planting of street trees, worked on disability discrimination issues, and spoke out against exploitation in the sex industry.

State politics

Barber won a seat for the Greens in the

Northern Metropolitan Region Northern Metropolitan 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 create ...

of the

in the 2006 State election. He received 59,360 primary votes and was elected with 16.48% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2010 with 18.51% of primary votes and in 2014 with 17.43% of the votes. Greg Barber held the Aboriginal Affairs, Agriculture, Employment, Industrial Relations, Industry, Trade, Ports, Regional Development and Treasury and Finance portfolios for the

Victorian Greens The Australian Greens Victoria, commonly known as the Victorian Greens or just as The Greens, is the Victorian state member party of the Australian Greens, a green political party in Australia. History Early years The Australian Greens Vi ...

. In December 2010 he was made leader of the Victorian Greens. On 13 June 2017, it was announced in an email to party members that Barber, and Colleen Hartland, would not be seeking reelection at the 2018 Victorian state election. In July 2017, Victorian Parliamentary Services and Barber reached a confidential settlement with a former parliamentary adviser over allegations of bullying and sexual harassment. On 28 September 2017, Barber announced his immediate resignation from politics, stepping down as leader of the Victorian Greens. Barber's seat in the upper house was filled by

Samantha Ratnam Samantha Shantini Ratnam (born 1977) is an Australian social worker, politician and the current leader of the Victorian Greens. Since October 2017 Ratnam has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the Northern Metropol ...

, who also replaced Barber as leader of the party.

References

External links

Greg Barber MPParliament of Victoria:Greg Barber

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Greg Australian people of New Zealand descent 1966 births Living people Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Politicians from Melbourne Mayors of Yarra 21st-century Australian politicians University of Melbourne alumni Victoria (Australia) local councillors

Early career

Local politics

State politics

See also

References

External links