Richard Dalla-Riva
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Richard Alex Gordon Dalla-Riva (born April 6, 1963) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since November 2002, representing East Yarra Province. He was a Shadow Minister and one of the highest profile Victorian Liberals until his career was interrupted by scandal in 2007 over press claims (he denied) that the married man had propositioned a teenage girl.
Dalla-Riva was born in the regional town of Orbost, but grew up in Beechworth, before moving to Melbourne. After graduating from the publicly funded comprehensive Macleod High School (now MacLeod College), he joined the police force, and was promoted to the rank of detective in 1988. He worked in a number of areas associated with financial crime, including the major fraud and asset recovery squads, and also spent time working for the National Crime Authority.
While still working in the police force, he studied business at the Phillip Institute of Technology (now part of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology). In 1995, after seven years as a detective, Dalla-Riva left the police force, and took up a position as a manager with Woolworths Limited. He worked in a variety of management positions through the late 1990s, and received an MBA from the University of Southern Queensland in 1998.
In 2000, Dalla-Riva began to take an active political role, becoming chairman of the Liberal Party's electorate council for East Yarra Province. In that role, he became a key player in a Liberal party faction associated with former Premier Jeff Kennett and the man who later became Leader Ted Baillieu.
His active role was rewarded when he won Liberal pre-selection to contest the seat at the 2002 election. He was elected amidst a major swing against the Liberal Party, with the loss of many seats across the state. Dalla-Riva was appointed Shadow Minister for the corrections portfolio, covering the state's prison system. In this role, he attacked alleged overcrowding in prisons, as well as proposals for home detention, which he suggested would be scrapped if the Liberal Party were to gain power.
In January 2004, Dalla-Riva was given the additional portfolio of scrutiny of government, replacing David Davis, who had been recently promoted. This saw Dalla-Riva handed the responsibility of investigating government mismanagement and playing a major role in the opposition's attacks on the government.
In August 2004, he led a successful campaign against leaked proposed guidelines for state bureaucrats which would have encouraged them to provide standardised answers to questions from the opposition, and limited the opposition's ability to scrutinise the government. In the aftermath of the public controversy, the proposals were dumped by Premier Steve Bracks.
In January 2007, it was revealed that Dalla-Riva had admitted making inappropriate remarks to a young woman aged 18 whilst driving her home from a party fundraiser in 2006. These remarks led to a complaint by the young woman's father to the Liberal Party organisation. After mediation, Mr Dalla-Riva apologised and all involved signed a confidentiality agreement. Following claims that he sent a text message sent to the woman, that he had not previously disclosed, Dalla-Riva resigned from the Shadow Cabinet.
He is married to Sadie, and has three children.
