Bill Baxter (politician)
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The Honourable Bill Baxter |
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| Member of the Victorian Parliament for North Eastern Province |
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In office February 1985 – 2006 |
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| Member of the Legislative Council of Victoria | |
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In office 1978 – November 1984 |
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| Constituency | North Eastern Province |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria | |
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In office 1973–1976 |
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| Preceded by | George Moss |
| Succeeded by | Ken Jasper |
| Constituency | Murray Valley |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
3 November 1946 Nathalia, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | National Party |
| Occupation | Farmer and grazier |
William Robert Baxter (born 3 November 1946) was a former Australian politician and the current Victorian State President of The Nationals. He was the Nationals member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing North Eastern Province from June 1978 until November 2006 (excepting a four-month break in 1984–85). He also served one term in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1976.
Baxter was born and raised in the Nathalia area. He started high school in Nathalia, but completed his secondary schooling at the prestigious Scotch College, Melbourne, where he was a boarder in School House. He then returned to his family property at Picola, near Nathalia, and began working as a farmer and grazier. Around the same time, he began to pursue an interest in politics.
In 1966, at the age of only twenty, he became the secretary of his local Country Party branch, and a delegate to the party conference. At the 1969 federal election, he was campaign director in Deputy Prime Minister Sir John McEwen's seat of Murray.
Baxter was elected to the Nathalia Shire Council in 1970, and in 1973 became the Shire President. In the same year, he stood as the National Party candidate for the relatively safe Legislative Assembly seat of Murray Valley, replacing the retiring member George Moss. Having been easily elected, he juggled the two commitments until 1975, when he ceased to be Shire President, although he remained on the council. Throughout this term, Baxter also served on the parliamentary Road Safety Committee. In the lead-up to the 1976 state election, the Murray Valley electorate underwent major boundary changes, and as a result, Baxter chose to contest the adjacent seat of Benambra. Baxter polled the most primary votes, but although it had been a National Party seat since 1932, Benambra fell to Lou Lieberman of the rival conservative Liberal Party on preferences.
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