Victorian cabinet 2023 reshuffle: Ros Spence appointed to agriculture ministry

Kalkallo MP Ros Spence has been appointed as Victoria’s latest agriculture minister – replacing Gayle Tierney in the role.

Kalkallo MP Ros Spence has been sworn in as Victoria’s new agriculture minister — the fifth person to hold the position in less than a decade.

The 52-year-old minister replaces Gayle Tierney, who retains the regional development portfolio in Premier Jacinta Allan’s first cabinet.

Ms Spence also gains the community sport and volunteers portfolios in the new-look cabinet, following Ms Allan’s elevation to the premiership last week.

A former electorate officer and Hume City mayor, Ms Spence was initially elected as the Labor MP for Yuroke at the 2014 state election.

New Agriculture Minister Ros Spence. Picture: Rob Leeson

When the Yuroke constituency was abolished in a redistribution ahead of the 2022 state election, she switched to the Kalkallo electorate, which covers Melbourne’s northern suburban fringe including Craigieburn and Mickleham.

In her inaugural speech to the Victorian parliament, Ms Spence discussed her upbringing in Melbourne’s northeastern suburbs and how it instilled her Labor values.

“Growing up in Montmorency was great,” she said in 2014.

“We lived in a court surrounded by other families and where the sound of a basketball being bounced outside signalled that all the kids should head out for a game or to muck around until dinner at six. I was very fortunate.

“We lived in a modest three-bedroom house, where Dad made sure that we did not go without. I went to a terrific school in Eltham High School, where I was encouraged to learn as an individual.”

Ms Spence is the fifth agriculture minister since the Andrews government’s first election victory in November 2014.

Jaala Pulford, Jaclyn Symes, Mary-Anne Thomas and Ms Tierney have all held the role over the course of the nine-year administration.