Ted Baillieu

In July this year the Victorian Government Cladding Taskforce released a report which outlines recommendations for reforms in the current building system. Local resident, The Hon. Ted Baillieu, is the current co-chair of this taskforce and continues to contribute and remains ever-keen to assist the community when needed.

Ted lives in West Hawthorn with his wife, three children and two dogs - one of which is a Guide Dogs Victoria foster dog his daughter is caring for. Before Hawthorn he lived in East Melbourne for 20 years, but moved to a place with more space for the family and nearby schools for the children.

Ted has lived in Melbourne his whole life, growing up in Toorak and Armadale. He attended Melbourne Grammar School followed by Melbourne University where he studied Architecture, and later RMIT where he studied Business.

In the 1980s, Ted worked as a strategic planner for schools. Through this role, he saw how schools were funded which propelled his increasing interest in politics. After joining the Liberal Party, he became the State Government Member for Hawthorn in 1999 until 2014.

While Premier of Victoria and Arts Minister from 2010-2013, Ted had many different roles and was involved in different initiatives. He proudly names some of the successes: restoring the Budget, increasing the number of Victorian Police, increasing emergency service funding, introducing White Night, a new home for Circus Oz, international engagement and "expanding Victoria's footprint on the world." In all his time in government, one of Ted's favourite parts was the opportunity to "engage with so many different communities."

At any given time, Ted now works on a number of different projects and assists other architects. He is also an Enterprise Professor at Melbourne University and can be found locally at Swinburne University where he is an Adjunct Professor. Ted is not just in the Glenferrie Hawthorn area for teaching. He is a regular customer at Pro-Case, needing a replacement screen more times than he would like to admit. He also has lunches and dinners at D'Tandoor, Osteria 20, Samurai, and frequents other local shops such as Glenferrie Gourmet Meats, Haigh's, Readings, Bunnings, The Works and the "best car repair place I've ever come across", Acclaim Accident Repairs Hawthorn on Burwood Road. He is also a regular swimmer at Hawthorn Aquatic and Leisure Centre, going at least four times a week.

Ted comments on how different the area is now compared to six years ago. Recounting the night life and anti-social behaviour he came across more frequently back then, he believes the area feels a lot safer and cleaner these days thanks to the help of the local trader and resident groups who worked with City of Boroondara and the Police to come up with a solution. He sees the potential for improvements in the northern end of Glenferrie in terms of more retail. The back of the Lido arcade which leads out to the car park has the potential to become a friendly shopping area as well, instead of simply a backdoor, if it included footpaths and shopfronts. But overall, Ted enjoys all that Glenferrie has to offer so close to home.