Virginia Judge

Dianne "Virginia" Judge (b. 19 August 1956 in Cooma), a former Australian politician, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Strathfield for the Australian Labor Party from 2003 until 2011.

Early life

Judge was born in Cooma where her father worked as a surveyor on the Snowy Mountain Scheme and was educated in Canberra. She received a Bachelor of Education from the Canberra School of Music.^[1]

Judge taught in primary and secondary schools in Sydney and Canberra, including at the Evandale Special School in Croydon, a school catering for intellectual disabled students. She also worked as a volunteer abroad for the Overseas Service Bureau in Tonga and as a project officer for small non-government organisation, The Australian Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific, delivering items such as humidicribs, toilets and ovens to Pacific islands such as Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Fiji.^[1]

Judge returned to Sydney,and worked in real estate, qualifying for her real estate licence. She was also studying Law part-time at Macquarie University prior to her election to the Legislative Assembly.^[1]

Political career

Judge was elected to Strathfield Council in 1995 and served until 2004. Almost immediately after being elected, she was accused of speaking and voting against an application for a development approval without declaring a conflict of interest, as her real estate agency, and allegedly herself, stood to benefit if it was approved. This charge was dismissed by the Department of Local Government.^[2] She later found employment, working for Eddie Obeid when he was the Minister for Fisheries. She was Mayor from 2001 to 2003 when she entered the NSW Parliament.

Judge was elected as member for Strathfield in 2003, representing Labor.^[3] Although the seat has traditionally been held by the Liberal Party of Australia, she won it with a 15% majority.^[4]

NSW Premier Nathan Rees appointed Judge Fair Trading Minister, and he gave Judge responsibility for citizenship and she assisted the Minister for the Arts (Premier Nathan Rees). Following the resignation of the then NSW Premier Nathan Rees, the new Premier Kristina Keneally, re-appointed Judge as Fair Trading Minister, and also appointed Judge the Minister for the Arts in December 2009.

At the March 2011 general election, Judge was defeated with a swing of 16.6% to the Liberal's Charles Casuscelli, who won 54.4% of the vote on a two-party preferred basis.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Judge, (Dianne) Virginia". Australian Women. http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE1863b.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-02. 
2. ^ "Re: Councillor Dianne Virginia Judge" (PDF). Department of Local Government. http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/documents/Information/dec0495.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-02. 
3. ^ "Ms (Virginia) Dianne Virginia Judge, B.Ed. MP". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Parlment/Members.nsf/d890a06557517cedca256e700008765e/1b9973c4fd6ddebaca256cfa0012c0c7. 
4. ^ "Strathfield". 2007 NSW Election Guide. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2007/guide/stra.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-02. 
5. ^ Green, Antony (5 April 2011). "Strathfield". NSW Votes 2011 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2011/guide/stra.htm. Retrieved 9 April 2011. 

External links

• Virginia Judge's inaugural speech.

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by Paul Whelan	Member for Strathfield 2003 – 2011	Succeeded by Charles Casuscelli
Political offices
Preceded by Nathan Rees	Minister for the Arts 2009 – 2011	Succeeded by George Souris

Persondata
Name	Judge, Virginia
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 August 1956
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death