Wendy Smith (politician)

Wendy Irene Smith, née Judd is a former Australian politician.

She was born to David Lyell Judd and Shirley Fay Cross in Adelaide. She attended Blackwood High School from 1963 to 1966 and received a general nursing certificate from Adelaide Children's Hospital in 1971. From 1974 to 1975 she was a health counsellor at La Trobe University and from 1976 to 1977 a nurse educator at the Royal Children's Hospital. She married Michael Smith on 27 August 1977; they have four children. She qualified with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne in 1979. In 1983 she was elected to Kew City Council, serving until 1988 when she became general manager of the Metropolitan Municipal Association. In 1989 she became principal of International Infrastructure Conferences. A member of the Liberal Party, she worked as a ministerial adviser to Environment Minister Mark Birrell.^[1]

In 1996, Smith was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as a member for Silvan Province. She was Shadow Cabinet Secretary in 2002 and was appointed Shadow Minister for Small Business in 2002, but in that year she was defeated by Labor candidate Carolyn Hirsh.^[1]

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