Ian Malcolm John Baker (born 13 May 1944) is a former

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n politician and journalist. He was born in

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government a ...

. A journalist from 1963, he was education writer and chief industrial reporter with ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

(1969–71), staff writer with ''

Nation Review ''Nation Review'' was an Australian Sunday newspaper, which ceased publication in 1981. It was launched in 1972 after independent publisher Gordon Barton bought out Tom Fitzgerald's ''Nation'' publication and merged it with his own ''Sunday Revi ...

'' (1971–73), chief of reporting staff with ABC News Victoria (1975–76) and producer for ''

This Day Tonight ''This Day Tonight'' (TDT) was an Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) evening current affairs program from 1967 to 1978. Founding When ''TDT'' premiered in 1967 it was the first regular nightly current affairs program on Australian TV, an ...

'' (1977). In 1978 he received a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order fo ...

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 a ...

and returned to ABC News as editor, serving until 1982. He received a

Master of 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 accoun ...

from

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

in 1983 and was appointed as a consultant to the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

and executive director of the Committee of Enquiry into Victorian Workers' Compensation. From 1985 to 1988 he was Director of Insurance Policy and Management in the Department of Management and Budget, and from 1984 to 1988 he was a member of the Labor Party's Economic Policy Committee. In 1988, Baker 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 presidin ...

as the Labor member for Sunshine. He quickly moved to the front bench, becoming Minister for Property Services in 1990 and moving to Agriculture in 1991. Following Labor's defeat in 1992 he was Shadow Treasurer (1992–94). He then went to the backbench after he was unsuccessful in his attempt to wrest the ALP leadership from John Brumby, the sitting leader. He lost the spill by a vote of 31 votes to Brumby to 8 for him. Despite being defeated by a wide margin it was believed that Baker had the numbers to beat Brumby thanks to a deal made by the Socialist Left and Labor Unity factions to install him as leader, a deal that was torn up when Brumby agreed to concessions made to the factions. He lost Labor preselection for Sunshine to Telmo Languiller in 1999 and ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, but he was defeated.

References

1944 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Independent members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People from Werribee, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne Ministers for Agriculture (Victoria) {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub