Introduction
Peter John Batchelor (born 21 September 1950) was an Australian politician who retired at the Victorian State Election on 27 November 2010. He was an Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
Batchelor was born in western Sydney, and his grandmother reportedly once held a 50-year-plus record as the longest card-carrying member of the ALP.
Career
Member, Parliament of Victoria
Elected in 1990, he represented the electorate of Thomastown from 3 February 1990 until 26 November 2010.
His parliamentary roles are listed as follows.
- Shadow Minister for Public Transport 1992-96.
- Manager of Opposition Business 1995-99.
- Shadow Minister for Transport 1996-99.
- Manager, Government Business in the Legislative Assembly October 1999-November 2010.
- Minister for Transport October 1999-December 2006.
- Minister for Major Projects 2002-05.
- Minister for Energy and Resources December 2006-December 2010.
- Manager of Government Business Legislative Assembly December 2006-November 2010.
- Minister for Victorian Communities December 2006-August 2007.
- Minister for Community Development August 2007-January 2010.
- Minister for the Arts January 2010-December 2010.
As Transport Minister, Batchelor oversaw the $750 million Regional Fast Rail project. In 2000, the State Government approved funding to upgrade rail lines to provide fast rail passenger services between Melbourne and Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Traralgon.
As Minister for Energy and Resources, Batchelor initiated the roll-out of smart meters to 2.5 million homes and businesses. The roll-out of smart meters was reportedly to assist with consumer choice on electricity providers and to help manage climate change. However, the roll-out was stopped when the budget blew-out from $800 million to $2 billion. The roll-out was completed under the Andrews Government in 2015.
According to Melbourne public transport academic Paul Mees, Batchelor "was staunchly against privatisation when in opposition and then continued with privatisation and reprivatisation in government.
On 7 October 2010 Batchelor announced, he would not re-contest his seat at the 2010 state election. He retired at that election. Dorothy, his partner, was also reported to be retiring from work.
Other roles
Prior to entering politics, Batchelor was a union official at Furnishing Trades Union, 1972-1982. From 1983 to 1990, he was ALP Victorian branch state secretary.
In February, 2012, Batchelor was appointed President of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. The Foundation, based in Melbourne, is the independent funding body annually distributing over $15m of federal grants to 220 Australian community based media organisations.
Campaign disputes
Batchelor reportedly, "helped organise and distribute bogus how-to-vote cards for the Nuclear Disarmament Party" (sic) during the 1985 Nunawading by-election. The voting cards appeared to represent the voting preferences of the Nuclear Disarmament Party. Campaigning for nuclear disarmament was popular left-wing politics during the 1980s. Police investigated the matter and Batchelor was not charged with any criminal offence.
In 2016, Batchelor was filmed removing a Greens election banner and replacing it with ALP election material in the seat of Batman. It was claimed, Greens election campaigners had blanketed polling booths with their material leaving no space for other campaigners.