Lynne Kosky | |
---|---|
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Altona | |
In office 30 March 1996 – 18 January 2010 | |
Preceded by | Carole Marple |
Succeeded by | Jill Hennessy |
Personal details | |
Born | Lynne Janice Kosky 2 September 1958 Melbourne, Australia |
Died | 4 December 2014 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | (aged 56)
Political party | Labor Party |
Spouse | Jim Williamson |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Occupation | Social worker |
Lynne Janice Kosky (2 September 1958 – 4 December 2014) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Government of Victoria. She represented the electoral district of Altona in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party from 1996 to 2010 and held key ministerial posts from 1999 through to her retirement from politics, including the key education and public transport portfolios.
A sometimes controversial figure, particularly as public transport minister, and a magnet for criticism about the performance of Melbourne's metropolitan rail system, Kosky presided over the largest increases to public transport patronage in 50 years in Victoria when a substantial infrastructure deficit had been created over that period due to a bias towards funding for roads. Kosky attracted record funding for public transport, particularly during the settling of the Victorian Transport Plan, and built a strong record of legislative reform in her ministerial posts. On 18 January 2010, Lynne Kosky announced her intention to resign from Parliament immediately, citing "significant health problems in her family".[1]