Geoff Hilton
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John Geoffrey Hilton (born October 13, 1947) is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council since November 2002, representing Western Port Province.
Hilton was born in St. Helens in the United Kingdom, and studied at the University of Aberdeen and Hull University. He was employed as an accountant after graduating, but moved into consultancy in the late 1970s, first as a management consultant, and then moving to executive recruitment.
In the leadup to the 2002 state election, Hilton succeeded in winning pre-selection for the new seat of Western Port Province. The electorate had been created after the abolition of the reasonable safe Liberal electorate of South Western Province. A redistribution associated with the change had further strengthened the Liberal hold on the seat.
In these circumstances, it had been widely expected that Liberal Cameron Boardman, the sitting member for Chelsea Province, would win the new seat. However, the 2002 election resulted in a devastating landslide against the Liberal opposition. The election was too close to call on election night, with Boardman still being tipped to win, but when the final count came in, Hilton had narrowly scraped over the line.
Hilton has been a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee since 2003. He is an avid supporter of Melbourne rugby league team the Melbourne Storm. Though he has spent the majority of his working life as an accountant, Hilton is also a qualified psychologist.
