Russell Northe
Russell John Northe (born 6 February 1966) is an Australian politician and a current member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Prior to winning preselection by The Nationals for the seat of Morwell, he was a local Australian rules footballer. He resigned from The Nationals in August 2017, and is currently an independent member of parliament. Early life and education. Northe was born in Traralgon, Victoria and attended Traralgon High School, completing Year 11 in 1982. In 2006, Northe completed a Certificate IV in Business. Political and parliamentary career. With repetitive television advertising and campaigning on the issues of  workers' rights and bicycle paths, Northe was able to capitalise on divisions within some local branches of the Labor Party to win the seat. Northe doubled the Nationals' primary vote, secured with the aid of Liberal Party and ex-Labor independent preferences. This win also served to help secure the Nationals' future as a political party in Victoria. Russell Northe joined fellow parliamentarians Peter Ryan and Peter Hall as the Nationals' state parliamentary representatives for Gippsland. At the 2010 state election, Northe achieved the biggest pro-Coalition swing in the state to transform Morwell into one of the National Party 's safest Victorian seats, with a two-party-preferred margin of 16.29% against Labor. Northe won Morwell on the primary vote, polling 56.24% in his own right, and won every polling booth except the small Yallourn North booth, where Labor recorded a narrow majority. With the Liberal/Nationals Coalition winning government, Northe was also appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business. Northe has served on the Parliament's Rural and Regional Committee since 2007. In 2014, Northe was elevated to Cabinet as Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for Small Business. He held those ministerial portfolios until the defeat  of the Napthine/Ryan Coalition Government at the 2014 state election. After the election defeat and the resignation of long-serving Nationals leader Peter Ryan, Northe pursued the party deputy leadership, but lost to first-term MP Steph Ryan. On 28 August 2017, Northe resigned from the National Party due to stress, depression and gambling issues. According to media reports, he had accrued significant debts exceeding $750,000 owed to over thirty local businessmen, friends, constituents party members, and his own parliamentary leader Peter Walsh, partly due to gambling. Those who were persuaded by Northe to lend him money were  said to include former employees in his electorate office and a retrenched power station worker who lost a large portion of his redundancy package. Northe defied expectations and was re-elected in his seat at the 2018 state election, and pledged to be a "conservative independent" member.