Richard Riordan (Australian politician)

Australian politician and businessman

For persons of a similar name, see Richard Riordan (disambiguation).

This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Richard Riordan

Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
for Polwarth

Incumbent

Assumed office
31 October 2015
Preceded by| Terry Mulder
Personal details
Born|

Richard Vincent Riordan

(1972-04-11) 11 April 1972 (age 52)
Colac, Victoria
Nationality| Australian
Political party| Liberal Party
Spouse|

Catherine Riordan

(m. 1995)​

Children| 4
Education| Monash University
Website| richardriordan.com.au

Richard Vincent Riordan (born 11 April 1972) is an Australian politician and businessman. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as a Liberal Party member for Polwarth, at a by-election held October 31st, 2015.

In 1989 he completed his Year 12 education in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) as a Rotary Exchange Student, and completed his Victorian Certificate of Education at Trinity College Colac in 1990. Riordan was a prefect and was admitted to Monash University to undertake a Bachelor of Business Management - during this time he was active in university politics as well as the Young Liberal Movement.[citation needed]

After completing his studies in 1994, he was appointed managing director of his family's hardware business.[1] In 1999, Riordan was nominated for pre-selection in the seat of Polwarth, vacated by Ian Smith. Terry Mulder subsequently won pre-selection for Polwarth in 1999.[citation needed]

Riordan experienced defeat in pre-selection again in 2010 before being successful in 2015, and was subsequently re-elected at the 2018 state election. Despite the Liberal Party experiencing a swing against it, Riordan increased his primary vote - receiving in excess of 50% of the vote. Riordan was appointed Assistant Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Regional Development and Deputy Chair of The Public Accounts and Estimates Committee.[2][3][4][5]

Marquee issues for Riordan include wire rope barriers on county roads, and their effectiveness as a notable and important life-saving measure.[6] He recently[timeframe?] came under fire for his comments after the death of a truck driver in Clifton Springs[7] where he was accused of using a fatality for political gain. His views were however supported by some road transport groups.[8]

He was managing director of his family company, which had varied retail interests. He is active in the local community, having served as director of the board of Colac Area Health.[9] After the Liberal Party loss during the 2022 Victorian state election, Riordan announced his candidacy for the 2022 Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) leadership election.[10] A few days later he would withdraw and announce his support for Brad Battin for the leadership election.[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Retail Focus: Largest Thrifty Announced | Hardware Journal". 21 January 2015.
2. ^ "Home | Richard Riordan MP | Polwarth".
3. ^ "Public Accounts and Estimates".
4. ^ "'Obvious Guy was unelectable': Liberal slams party's campaign". 29 November 2018.
5. ^ "Guess how many young women aspire to a career in politics". 29 November 2018.
6. ^ Howard, Jessica (13 July 2019). "MP hopes audit will provide clarity about true cost of wire rope barriers". The Standard. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
7. ^ "MPs raise barrier safety questions". Big Rigs. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
8. ^ "Truck tragedy sparks ugly political debate". www.geelongadvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2019.(subscription required)
9. ^ Crane, Courtney (2 November 2015). "Polwarth by-election keeps Liberals in the hot seat". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 5 November 2015.[dead link]
10. ^ Staszewska, Ewa (28 November 2022). "Ryan Smith, John Pesutto and Richard Riordan lead race for Liberal leadership following Victorian election loss". Sky News Australia. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
11. ^ "As counting continues in Victoria's state election, one race is separated by just five votes". ABC News. 30 November 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Parliamentary biography

Victorian Legislative Assembly

Preceded by

Terry Mulder

|  Member for Polwarth
2015–present  | Incumbent

* v
* t
* e

Current Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Labor (54)|

* Juliana Addison
* Jacinta Allan
* Colin Brooks
* Josh Bull
* Anthony Carbines
* Ben Carroll
* Anthony Cianflone
* Sarah Connolly
* Christine Couzens
* Jordan Crugnale
* Lily D'Ambrosio
* Daniela De Martino
* Steve Dimopoulos
* Paul Edbrooke
* Maree Edwards
* Eden Foster
* Matt Fregon
* Ella George
* Luba Grigorovitch
* Bronwyn Halfpenny
* Katie Hall
* Paul Hamer
* Martha Haylett
* Meng Heang Tak
* Mathew Hilakari
* Melissa Horne
* Natalie Hutchins
* Lauren Kathage
* Sonya Kilkenny
* Nathan Lambert
* Gary Maas
* Kathleen Matthews-Ward
* Alison Marchant
* Steve McGhie
* Paul Mercurio
* John Mullahy
* Tim Pallas
* Danny Pearson
* Pauline Richards
* Tim Richardson
* Michaela Settle
* Ros Spence
* Nick Staikos
* Natalie Suleyman
* Jackson Taylor
* Nina Taylor
* Kat Theophanous
* Mary-Anne Thomas
* Emma Vulin
* Iwan Walters
* Vicki Ward
* Dylan Wight
* Gabrielle Williams
* Belinda Wilson

Coalition (28)|

| Liberal (19)|

* Brad Battin
* Roma Britnell
* Chris Crewther
* Wayne Farnham
* Matthew Guy
* Sam Groth
* David Hodgett
* Cindy McLeish
* James Newbury
* Michael O'Brien
* John Pesutto
* Richard Riordan
* Brad Rowswell
* David Southwick
* Bill Tilley
* Bridget Vallence
* Kim Wells
* Nicole Werner
* Jess Wilson

|

National (9)|

* Jade Benham
* Tim Bull
* Martin Cameron
* Annabelle Cleeland
* Emma Kealy
* Tim McCurdy
* Danny O'Brien
* Kim O'Keeffe
* Peter Walsh

|

Greens (4)|

* Gabrielle de Vietri
* Sam Hibbins
* Tim Read
* Ellen Sandell

Independent Labor (2)|

* Darren Cheeseman
* Will Fowles

*[m.]: married
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template