Bruce Atkinson
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The Honourable Bruce Atkinson MLC |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Eastern Metropolitan Region | |
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Assumed office 3 October 1992 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 May 1953 Melbourne |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | bruceatkinson.com.au |
Bruce Norman Atkinson (born 15 May 1953) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since October 1992, representing Koonung Province from 1992 to 2006 and Eastern Metropolitan Region since. He is currently the President of the Legislative Council.
Atkinson was born in Melbourne, and attended Mitcham High School. He undertook a cadetship with the Leader group of newspapers after graduating, and worked as a journalist for a period. However, he soon made a move into the business world, first into small business, and later into several more prominent operations, including a stint managing a shopping centre. He has also been a writer for the Foodweek and Inside Retailing publications since 1981, and operates his own business consultancy firm, The Atkinson Group.
However, it was through local government that Atkinson made a name for himself in the political arena. He was elected to the Nunawading city council in 1975, where he served as a councillor for 17 years. This also included two terms as mayor in 1981–1982 and 1990–1991.
In the lead-up to the 1992 state election, Atkinson succeeded in winning Liberal pre-selection for the moderately safe upper house seat of Koonung Province. He was ultimately elected, and soon nominated for the Family and Community Development Committee, on which he served from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, he was promoted to his first ministerial position, in the government of Premier Jeff Kennett, as Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Local Government.
Atkinson subsequently spent four years on the backbenches, neither serving in any ministerial portfolios or any committees. However, when the party's devastating defeat at the 2002 state election (after first losing government three years earlier) wiped out a significant portion of the shadow ministry, the party was suddenly forced to reconsider Atkinson as a ministerial prospect. When the Liberal Party regrouped after the election, Atkinson was appointed as the party's spokesperson for small business. He also began serving on the House and Economic Development Committees, and was appointed as the Deputy Chair of the latter. He was also appointed spokesman for sport and recreation in January 2004. In December 2006 he was elected Deputy President of the Legislative Council and relinquished his shadow ministry positions. He was Shadow Parliamentary Secretary, Business Development from November 2009. Following the Coalition's victory in the 2010 state elections, Atkinson was elected President of Victoria's Legislative Council.
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