Mary Delahunty
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Mary Delahunty is an Australian journalist and politician with the Australian Labor Party. She represents the electorate of Northcote.
Until a cabinet reshuffle early 2005, she was the Victorian Minister for Planning, responsible for the media presentation of Melbourne 2030, which is known for protecting the green wedges of Melbourne. Delahunty is now the Minister for the Arts and Women's Affairs.
During the previous term of the Bracks Government (1999-2002) she was Minister for Education. Her maiden speech was about the implications of the Fitzgerald report for Victoria, especially in regard to police corruption. As Minister of Education, she was supportive of the actions of unions.
In the 1980s she was a news journalist for the ABC, appearing in news and current affairs programmes such as Four Corners and the 7:30 Report. She received a Gold Walkley award for the story "Aiding and Abetting" which was shown and produced by Four Corners in 1983. "Aiding and Abetting" was about the improper use of Australian aid money in the Philippines.
She is the sister of Victorian National Party MP Hugh Delahunty.
In the late 1980s, Delahunty -- then the chief newsreader for the ABC in Victoria -- was parodied by comedian Jean Kittson on the popular TV comedy series The Big Gig, where Kittson portrayed a snobbish, acid-tongued announcer called Veronica Glenhuntly (whose surname was taken from that of the elite Melbourne suburb).