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Mary Delahunty

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Not to be confused with the former mayor of Glen Eira.

The Honourable
Mary Delahunty
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
for Northcote
In office
15 August 1998 – 24 November 2006
Preceded byTony Sheehan
Succeeded byFiona Richardson
Personal details
Born
Mary Elizabeth Delahunty

(1951-06-07) 7 June 1951 (age 73)
Murtoa, Victoria, Australia
SpouseJock Rankin
RelationsHugh Delahunty (brother)
Alma materLa Trobe University
OccupationJournalist

Mary Elizabeth Delahunty (born 7 June 1951) is an Australian journalist and former politician from the Labor Party.

Early life

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Delahunty was born in the Victorian town of Murtoa and educated at Loreto College in Ballarat.[1] She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from La Trobe University.[2]

Media career

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Delahunty was a news journalist for the ABC and Network Ten from 1975 to 1996.[2] She appeared in news and current affairs programs such as Four Corners and The 7.30 Report. She received a Gold Walkley award for the story Aiding and Abetting which was shown and produced by Four Corners in 1983.[3]

Aiding and Abetting was about the improper use of Australian aid money in the Philippines. In the late 1980s, Delahunty, then the chief newsreader for the ABC in Victoria, was parodied by comedian Jean Kittson on The Big Gig, where Kittson portrayed a snobbish, acid-tongued announcer called Veronica Glenhuntly (whose surname was taken from that of the elite Melbourne suburb).[citation needed] Delahunty was the weeknight presenter of ABC News Victoria from 1986 until 1990. She was replaced by Sue McIntosh.

Political career

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Delahunty was elected to the seat of Northcote in the Victorian Legislative Assembly at a 1998 by-election. Her maiden speech was about the implications of the Fitzgerald report for Victoria, especially in regard to police corruption.[4]

Delahunty was Minister for Education from 1999 to 2002, during the term of the first Bracks Government.[2] She was the Minister for the Arts from 1999 to 2006, Minister for Women's Affairs from 2002 to 2006, and Minister for Planning from 2002 to 2005.[2] As Minister for Planning, she was responsible for the media presentation of Melbourne 2030.

As Minister for Planning, Delahunty was criticised for the altering of the annual Surveyor-General's Report 2002–03, submitted by the Surveyor-General of Victoria, Keith Clifford Bell. The acting Victorian Ombudsman announced in January 2004 that he would "investigate why the former Surveyor-General's final annual report was substantially altered before being tabled in State Parliament last November" He also announced he would investigate the misuse of the Surveyor-General's electronic signature by the Department of Sustainability and Environment. The Auditor-General confirmed it would keep a watching brief over the investigations. It was also confirmed that the government ignored the advice of the office of the Victorian Government Solicitor "to not interfere with the report". Bell, himself had confirmed that the report had been altered. The complaint to the ombudsman leading to the investigation had come from the then opposition planning spokesman Ted Baillieu.[5] Efforts to alter or block Bell's reports from 1999-01 and 2000–01, had also occurred under the former Minister Sherryl Garbutt. Garbutt had made claims the reports were inaccurate, but they were subsequently tabled without any alteration.[6]

The ombudsman's investigation found substantial sections altered after Bell had finished his term as Surveyor-General. It also found that Bell's signature was assigned to the Annual Report 2002-03 of the Surveyors Board of Victoria, without his knowledge or consent. The government was directed to apologise to Bell.[7][8] Shadow Planning Minister, Ted Baillieu, in his statement to the Parliament on 9 April 2003 reported on the political interference at multiple levels, including the Planning Minister, in the performance of the responsibilities of the Surveyor-General. Bell was acknowledged as a competent, highly respected public servant and he was held in the highest esteem by both the surveying profession and the business sector.[9] In a further statement to Parliament on 4 May 2005, Baillieu commented on the "doctoring" of Bell's report, which had been done at the Minister's direction. Baillieu further cited the Ombudsman's findings that the altering of the report was inappropriate and there were concerns regarding the adequacy of the investigations. It was claimed that then Planning Minister Delahunty had misled the Parliament.[10] The tabled report bears the hand-written note signed by Bell's successor: "Amended by the direction of the Minister. John E.Tulloch Surveyor General of Victoria 19/4/2005”.[11]

Previously, in 2002, the Auditor-General reviewed the functions and responsibilities of the Surveyor-General and agreed with reports submitted by Bell. The Auditor-General identified the interference by Land Victoria in the performance of the Surveyor-General's responsibilities, including the wrongful transfer of the Surveyor-General's responsibilities to business units of Land Victoria outside of the Office of Surveyor-General. He confirmed that such responsibilities cannot be transferred without legislative mandate. The Auditor-General found that the transfer of the functions of the Surveyor-General had seen them delivered unsatisfactorily and did not meet the obligations of the legislation. The Opposition blamed Delahunty and her predecessor Sherryl Garbutt, for alleged political interference in the performance of the Surveyor-General's responsibilities. Such interference included: attempts to block or alter annual reports from Bell; affix his electronic signature without his knowledge or permission; threats and intimidation by the former Executive Director of Land Victoria Elizabeth O'Keeffe; hiring of private investigators to investigate Bell and his office; and efforts to interfere with his review of State electoral boundaries in his capacity as an Electoral Boundaries Commissioner.[6]

In January 2005 Premier Bracks dumped Delahunty as Planning Minister.[12] Rob Hulls replaced Delahunty in what the media reported as an "increasingly controversial" ministerial portfolio.[13] Delahunty commented in the media that in late February 2005 "she picked up The Sunday Age to read that members of the ruling Right faction of the ALP wanted her out of her safe seat."[12] In October 2006, Delahunty advised that she would not contest the November 2006 election due to health and family reasons.[14][15]

Personal life

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Delahunty is the sister of Victorian National Party MP, Hugh Delahunty,[16] who is also a former Victorian Football League player, as is another brother, Michael.[17] Her husband of 22 years, the journalist Jock Rankin, died in 2002.[3][16][18] She has two children,[3] Nicholas and Olivia.[18] She was a guest on Life Matters (ABC Radio National, 26 August 2010)[19] on such topics as grief, parenting, civic participation and public life, and her memoir, Public Life, Private Grief.[16]

Bibliography

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Non-fiction

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  • Delahunty, Mary. Gravity : inside the PM's office during her last year and final days. Hardie Grant Books.

Critical studies and reviews of Delahunty's work

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Victorian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Northcote
1998–2006 		Succeeded by
Media offices
Preceded by ABC News Victoria
Weeknight presenter
1986–1990 		Succeeded by

References

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  1. ^ Who's Who in Australia 2017, ConnectWeb.
  2. ^ a b c d "Delahunty, Mary Elizabeth". Profile. Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Mary Delahunty profile". Australian Women's Archives Project. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Fitzgerald Report on Corruption". Hansard. Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Ombudsman to probe 'altered' report". 27 January 2004. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Surveying Bill" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 6. Parliament of Victoria. 24 May 2004.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Archived 19 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Ex-official's signature misused: watchdog". 14 March 2005. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Report critical of Delahunty altered". 10 December 2003. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Surveyor-General: resignation" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 4. Parliament of Victoria. 9 April 2003.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Archived 8 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Public Accounts and Estimates Committee: budget outcomes 2003–04" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 4. Parliament of Victoria. 4 May 2005.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Archived 14 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Parliament of Victoria, 2002-2003 Annual Report by the Surveyor General of Victoria on the Administration of the Survey Co-Ordination Act 1958
  12. ^ a b "On life, death and treachery". 19 March 2005. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  13. ^ "A planner who plans to stay public". 30 April 2005. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Minister resigns on doctor's orders". 5 October 2006. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Delahunty to quit Victorian Parliament - ABC News". ABC News. 4 October 2006. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Delahunty, Mary (7 September 2010). Public Life, Private Grief: a memoir of political life and loss. Hardie Grant. ISBN 9781740668583.
  17. ^ Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
  18. ^ a b "On life, death and treachery". The Age. Fairfax. 19 March 2005. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  19. ^ Life Matters episode on which Delahunty appeared Archived 29 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 26 August 2010; accessed 3 December 2014.
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