Mary Wooldridge

Mary Louise Newling Wooldridge (born 29 July 1967) is an Australian politician for the Liberal Party in the state of Victoria. She was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 2006, representing the electoral district of Doncaster. Prior to her election, she was a business consultant and political activist.

Childhood and education

Wooldridge was born and raised in Melbourne and is the youngest of four children. She graduated from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honours in 1989. In 1994 she completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Harvard Business School. She is the sister of Michael Wooldridge, a former Federal Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.

Professional career

Mary has worked in executive roles with a number of companies including consultants McKinsey & Company in New York and London, Australian Consolidated Press and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited in Sydney.^[1]

Between 2001 and 2005 Mary was the chief executive of The Foundation For Young Australians, a not-for-profit charitable trust. In 2002 she was awarded the new Chief executive officer award in Equity Trustees National Nonprofit CEO awards for this role.

Political career

Mary Wooldridge addressing a protest about logging of Brown Mountain forest.

Mary joined the Liberal Party of Australia in 1987.

From 1999 to 2001 Mary worked as a Senior Adviser to Senator the Hon Nick Minchin. As part of her duties with the Senator, Wooldridge took part in an overseas trip that was the cause of some consternation for the Federal Labor Opposition.(1) (2).

She chaired the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Homelessness, which advises the Federal Minister for Family and Community Services on matters relating to homelessness.

In May 2006 she was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Doncaster to replace retiring member Victor Perton, and was elected to the Parliament of Victoria in November 2006.

The Liberal party was defeated at the election and remained in Opposition. Despite being a new Member, Wooldridge was appointed to five Shadow Ministries. She was Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Drug Abuse, Community Services and Environment and Climate Change.[1] One of the issues which came up in her first term was the lack of rail transport in the City of Manningham. In April 2010, she said the Opposition "strongly supported" the council's plans to extend the number 48 tram to the rapidly developing Doncaster Hill precinct.^[2]

When the Coalition won the 2010 state election, Wooldridge was appointed to the Baillieu Ministry as Minister for Mental Health, Women's Affairs and Community Services.

Personal life

Mary is married to Andrew Barling, a doctor, and they have a son, Jamison. Mary has been a Director of the Breast Cancer Network Australia, Foundation Boroondara and Trinity College at Melbourne University. She continues to remain a director at the Otis Foundation, a network of rural retreats for women with breast cancer.

References

1. ^ Campaign material distributed to all members of the electorate
2. ^ Whitelaw, Anna (2010-04-20). "Tram extension could be down the track". Melbourne Weekly Eastern 6 (15): p. 10. 

External links

• Mary Wooldridge's website
• Liberal Party of Victoria website
• Parliamentary Biography
• The Otis Foundation website

Victorian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Victor Perton	Member for Doncaster 2006–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Lisa Neville	Minister for Mental Health 2010–present	Incumbent
	Minister for Community Services 2010–present
Preceded by Maxine Morand	Minister for Women's Affairs 2010–present

Persondata
Name	Wooldridge, Mary
Alternative names	Wooldridge, Mary Louise Newling (full name)
Short description	Australian politician; Member of the Victoria Legislative Assemblyl; Minister for Mental Health, Women's Affairs and Community Services
Date of birth	29 July 1967
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date of death
Place of death