Lynne Kosky

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Lynne Kosky MP

Lynne Kosky MP (born 1958) is the Member for Altona, Victoria (since 1996) in the Parliament of Victoria (Australia) and is a senior Minister in the Steve Bracks Labor Government, being Minister for Public Transport and Minister for The Arts since December 2006.

Ms Kosky served as Minister for Post Compulsory Education, Training and Employment (1999-2002) and Minister for Finance (2000-2002) in the first Bracks government. Since 2000 she has been a member of the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet, which is responsible for putting together and oversighting the State’s $A30 billion a year budget.

Ms Kosky was first appointed Minister for Education and Training in February 2002 and she was the fourth longest serving of the State’s 54 Education Ministers since the Ministry was first created in 1873.

Ms Kosky’s period as Minister for Education and Training has been marked by sweeping reforms and innovation in key areas of Victoria’s education and training system, in many cases building on initiatives she had set in train in her previous Ministerial roles.

The Blueprint for Government Schools [1], which she announced in 2003, sets out how resources, leadership and school structures are to deliver quality learning opportunities for a diverse range of students.

The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning was introduced in 2002 to provide a 'hands on' pathway through the final two years of post compulsory schooling as an alternative to the Victorian Certificate of Education. It is now studied by over 12,000 young people throughout the State.

In the area of skills formation, in March 2006 Ms Kosky released Maintaining the Advantage which provides for a major additional investment in Victoria’s vocational education and training sector to increase the skills of existing workers and adult learners, as well as apprentices and trainees [2].

Ms Kosky has overseen the passage of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 [3] which is the first fundamental revision of the Education Act since its original introduction in 1873. The Act enshrines the right of access of all Victorians , “irrespective of the education and training institution they attend, where they live or their social or economic status”, to a high quality education. It includes the guarantee of a place at school or a public training provider for young people up to 20 to Year 12 or its training equivalent and confirms the right of parents and students to information about both school and student performance. It also requires all providers of education and training within the State to operate within a framework that supports the principles and practice of Australian democracy.

At the 2006 Victorian elections, the Bracks Labor Government was returned with a slightly reduced majority. One of the key planks of its re-election policy was a commitment to rebuild or modernise all 1600 Government schools over ten years, with 500 schools being modernised or rebuilt over the next 4 years at a cost of about $A1.9 billion [4].

There was some speculation that Ms Kosky might be promoted to Deputy Premier in the incoming Government but Premier Bracks ruled this out in favour of his longstanding deputy John Thwaites [5]. As a result of the post-2006 election cabinet reshuffle, Ms Kosky was appointed Minister for Public Transport, as well as Minister for the Arts. While this was reported as a demotion,^[1] as Minister for Public Transport, Ms Kosky now oversees the operations of one of the largest integrated public transport systems in the world, with extensive rail, tram and bus networks. A key priority in the portfolio is implementing an ambitious $10.5 billion transport policy [6]. She also retained her membership of the powerful Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet.

Ms Kosky graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1980 with a Bachelor of Social Work. Prior to entering Parliament, Ms Kosky worked in education, the community sector and as a political adviser. She served a term as Mayor of the City of Footscray in 1988 and was a member of the Board of the Footscray Australian Rules Football Club (the Western Bulldogs), of which she is currently the Number 1 Woman Ticketholder.