Michael Crutchfield is an Australian politician. He was formerly the member for South Barwon

Electoral district of South Barwon

South Barwon is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. Located in a mixed urban and rural area south of the Barwon River, it covers an area of 621km², including the Geelong suburbs of Belmont and Grovedale, Waurn Ponds and part of Highton, the coastal...

 in the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

.

Early life

Crutchfield was born in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, but attended high school in the coastal city of Warrnambool

Warrnambool, Victoria

-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...

. He studied to become a teacher at the University of Western Australia

University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...

 before returning to Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 and taking up a position as a teacher at Chanel College

Chanel College (Geelong)

Chanel College was a Roman Catholic school for boys in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1958, it closed in 1999. The site was later purchased by the Geelong Baptist College.-History:...

 in Geelong. Two years later, however, he left the position and took on a position as a career firefighter with the Country Fire Authority

Country Fire Authority

Country Fire Authority, or CFA, is the name of the fire service that provides firefighting and other emergency services to all of the country areas and regional townships within the state of Victoria, Australia, as well as large portions of the outer suburban areas and growth corridors of Melbourne...

.

Political career

He ran for and was elected to the council of the City of Greater Geelong

City of Greater Geelong

The City of Greater Geelong is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia.It is located in the western part of the state, south-west of Melbourne. It has an area of 1,240 square kilometres. In 2006 it had a population of 191,000...

 in 1995. He was a popular and high-profile councillor, and subsequently served as the city's mayor from 2000 to 2001. Crutchfield remained on the council after losing the mayoralty, and contested Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 preselection for the state seat of South Barwon, which was considered a safe seat for the conservative Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

, and had never been won by Labor before in its history. Aided considerably by a statewide landslide victory for Labor, Crutchfield defeated long-serving incumbent Alister Paterson

Alister Paterson

Alister Irvine Paterson is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for South Barwon in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 2002.Paterson was born in Melbourne to John Austin Paterson and Marjorie Webber Ball...

, and took up his seat in parliament. He was defeated in 2010.

Crutchfield is currently Parliamentary Secretary for Water and the Environment and is passionate about addressing climate change and tackling sustainable water supply issues.

Personal life

He is an avid Geelong Cats supporter and a former coach and captain of the South Barwon football team. He is married.

External links

• Michael Crutchfield Parliamentary handbook information
• Labor lands a clean sweep