Eastern Metropolitan MP Mary Wooldridge to resign from state parliament by the end of February
Former Baillieu government minister Mary Wooldridge has decided to leave state parliament, and says she hopes her departure will help the renewal of the Victorian Liberal Party.
VIC News
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Senior Liberal MP Mary Wooldridge will leave parliament by the end of summer, saying it is time for her party to renew and bring in more capable women.
After a 13-year parliamentary career, the upper house MP and former Baillieu government minister will announce her departure on December 8.
She told the Sunday Herald Sun last year’s “very significant election loss” and a recent death in her family contributed to a “soul-searching process”, which resulted in her decision to seek a new career in a non-profit organisation in the community and health sector.
Ms Wooldridge, the Opposition’s higher education, training and jobs spokeswoman, said Liberal leader Michael O’Brien had “huge potential and will be a great premier one day”.
She said she was confident Mr O’Brien and state president Robert Clark had the party “back on track” but the time was right for her to depart.
“I do think we’re moving on from what has been a pretty dysfunctional time within the administrative wing of the party,” Ms Wooldridge said.
“Renewal is very positive and I hope my departure can be a first step in that process.”
While Ms Wooldridge said her replacement in the Eastern Metropolitan region was up to the party, she said she had “always been a champion for more women in parliament and in the Liberal Party”.
“I want that to happen and I think that needs to happen for the party to reflect the community,” she said.
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Ms Wooldridge said she was proud to have established “enduring institutions” including the Commission for Children and Young People, Parkville College to educate children in youth justice facilities, and Our Watch which tackles violence against women and children.
She was also the responsible minister when Victoria signed up to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Mr O’Brien described his “friend and colleague” as an “intelligent, compassionate and reforming MP and minister”.
“If our society is to be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable then Victoria is a better, fairer and more decent place as a direct result of Mary Wooldridge’s many initiatives as a minister,” he said.