Peter Ryan (politician)
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Peter Ryan (born 30 October 1950) is an Australian politician and leader of the National Party of Australia in Victoria.
Ryan was a lawyer in Sale before he entered the Victorian Legislative Assembly at the 1992 election as the member for Gippsland South. Despite not holding a portfolio during the lifetime of the Kennett government he was elected unopposed as leader of the Nationals in December 1999 after Pat McNamara resigned after the Coalition's defeat at the 1999 election.
One of Ryan's first acts as leader was to terminate the Coalition agreement with the Liberals. The relationship between the parties has been poor ever since. Ryan clashed with the Liberals several times, over the (now shelved) Liberal policy of 'no tolls' on Eastlink[1], the defection of Senator Julian McGauran to the Liberals and over former leader Robert Doyle's remarks that the Liberals were twenty seats from government, a statement that assumed that the Nationals would support a Liberal government[2][3]
He his married to his wife, Trish and has three children, Sarah, James and Julian.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Nick Lenaghan Opposition splits on tollway, The Age, February 21 2005
- ^ Jason Dowling State Nationals send warning to Doyle, The Age, January 29 2006
- ^ Paul Austin Rivalry set to spoil coalition victory plans, The Age, April 8 2005
