Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell MLC

Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell is One Nation’s first ever representative in the Parliament of Victoria, elected in 2022 to the Legislative Council representing the Northern Victoria region. This is the largest electorate in Victoria, with the Murray River its northern boundary from Corryong in the east to the South Australian border and reaches south to the outskirts of Melbourne.

Born in Wagga Wagga, Rikkie-Lee grew up on the south coast of NSW and worked in the tourism and hospitality sectors as well as a property manager in real estate before moving to Victoria with her young family to run a dairy farm. She now lives in Shepparton with her two school-aged children.

Rikkie-Lee initially entered politics to fight for farmers on water issues and continues working to bring the impacts of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan under scrutiny.

“Victoria’s irrigators have borne the full brunt of water reform, giving up hundreds of gigalitres to the Murray Darling Basin Plan and cutting or limiting the water available to whole districts. Many farmers have been forced to quit, unable to afford huge water costs, and this is costing regional economies while also jeopardising our state’s food security.”

Energy security, reliability and affordability for Victorian homes and industry is also on Rikkie-Lee’s agenda, including the protection of prime agricultural land from unwanted renewable energy projects such as wind and solar facilities.

“The people of Victoria own vast reserves of natural gas, and in a sensible world they would benefit from these resources in terms of affordable and reliable energy. The reality is that our gas reserves are locked away because of reckless climate ideology, or for exports that return very little to the people who own them. This must change before too many people are forced to choose between their energy bills and other essentials. We need to improve energy security with resources we already possess such as coal and gas.”

“And I will continue the fight to protect our prime agricultural land from being used for large solar and wind facilities that are not wanted by local communities and are an eyesore on our beautiful regions.

“Regional areas have been neglected by city-centric governments in Melbourne. Country communities need powerful voices. I will always fight for the best outcomes for regional Victoria – better roads, infrastructure which improves safety and economic productivity, and more water storage.

“I am proud to represent my constituents of Northern Victoria in State Parliament, and I will always put Victoria and Victorians first.”