Luba Grigorovitch
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox MP
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Luba Grigorovitch
| honorific_suffix = MP
| image =
| caption =
| constituency_AM = Kororoit
| assembly = Victorian Legislative
| term_start = 26 November 2022
| predecessor = Marlene Kairouz
| successor = incumbent
| birth_place = Altona, Victoria
| party = Labor
| parliamentarygroup = Labor Left
(Industrial Left)
| spouse = Ben Gray
| website = https://lubagrigorovitch.com/
}}
Luba Norma Grigorovitch (born 5 June 1985{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}) is an Australian politician. She represents the Labor Party and is a former trade union official.
Since the 2022 state election, she has been the representative of the District of Kororoit in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, sitting as a backbencher.{{Cite web |title=Kororoit - VIC Electorate, Candidates, Results |url=https://abc.net.au/news/elections/vic/2022/guide/koro |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}} Prior to the election, she was a state secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU). She is a member of the Industrial Left faction of the Victorian ALP.{{cite news |last1=Robin |first1=Myriam |title=Luba Grigorovitch can stop every tram in Melbourne |url=https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/luba-grigorovitch-can-stop-every-tram-in-melbourne-20190716-p527o2 |access-date=2024-08-13 |work=Australian Financial Review |date=2019-08-02 |url-access=subscription}}
She is married to Ben Gray, a founding partner of private equity firm BGH Capital, and the son of the former Liberal Premier of Tasmania, Robin Gray.
Early life and education
Grigorovitch was born in Altona.{{Cite web |title=Shilling Wall - G |url=https://www.qvwc.org.au/shilling-wall-g |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Queen Victoria Women's Centre |language=en-US}} She was raised mostly by her mother, who cared for her and her brother Robbie, as well as her uncle Ken, who had an intellectual disability.{{Cite web |date=2019-08-02 |title=Luba Grigorovitch can stop every tram in Melbourne |url=https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/luba-grigorovitch-can-stop-every-tram-in-melbourne-20190716-p527o2 |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}}
She attended secondary school at Mount St. Joseph Girls' College in Altona. When she was twelve, she was present during a visit by Joan Kirner, the first female premier of Victoria. Her mother was an ALP member and noticed her daughter's enthusiasm about this encounter, encouraging her to attend a party branch meeting. After that, Grigorovitch became an active member of her local branch.{{Cite Hansard|title=Address to Parlaiment|jurisdiction=Parliament of Victoria |house=Legislative Assembly |date=8 February 2023 |volume=60th Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/daily-hansard/Assembly_2023/Legislative_Assembly_2023-02-08.pdf |speaker=Luba Grigorovitch |position=Member for Kororoit}}{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310024234/https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/daily-hansard/Assembly_2023/Legislative_Assembly_2023-02-08.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2023}}
She attended Melbourne's Victoria University, completing a double bachelor's degree in Arts and Business.{{Cite Hansard|title=Address to Parlaiment|jurisdiction=Parliament of Victoria |house=Legislative Assembly |date=8 February 2023 |volume=60th Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/daily-hansard/Assembly_2023/Legislative_Assembly_2023-02-08.pdf |speaker=Luba Grigorovitch |position=Member for Kororoit}}{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310024234/https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/daily-hansard/Assembly_2023/Legislative_Assembly_2023-02-08.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2023}}{{cite web |title=Around-laverton-issue-342-mar-2014 by Around Laverton Community Newspaper - Issuu |date=October 2014 |url=https://issuu.com/aroundlaverton/docs/around-laverton-issue-342-mar-2014 |access-date=27 May 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vu.edu.au/study-at-vu/success-stories/students-alumni/young-leader|title=Young leader | Victoria University}}
Career
In 2008, Grigorovitch was elected as a councillor for the City of Hobsons Bay. She was re-elected in 2012, and assumed the role of Deputy Mayor.
Her involvement with the RTBU began in 2010. Her initial role in the union was as an industrial officer and women's officer in its Victorian branch. In 2011, she became an elected organiser and women's officer for one of its divisions.{{NoteTag|The union's Administration, Salaried, Technical and Professional Division}}
In 2014, she became the first female, and youngest, state secretary of the RTBU.{{NoteTag|In February of that year she was appointed to the position and, in November, was elected by the union's membership}}{{cite web |title=RTBU Executive |url=https://www.rtbuvic.com.au/rtbu-executive-2/ |access-date=27 May 2022}} During her tenure as the state secretary, the union undertook industrial action in pursuit of enterprise agreements with Metro Trains and Yarra Trams. There was also an unsuccessful campaign in 2017 to pressure the Andrews Labor Government to return Victoria's railways to public ownership.{{cite web |date=6 February 2017 |title=RTBU calls for public ownership of public transport |url=https://thesocialist.org.au/rtbu-calls-public-ownership-public-transport/ |access-date=27 May 2022}}{{cite news |date=12 September 2017 |title=Metro Trains and Yarra Trams win new $7b contracts with tougher targets |newspaper=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-12/metro-contract-extended-for-melbournes-train-network/8895462 |access-date=27 May 2022}}
In 2015, Grigorovitch was elected to the national body of the ACTU executive. In 2019, she was appointed national president of the RTBU, serving until 14 December 2022. She was the first female national president of the union.{{cite web | url=https://meltonmoorabool.starweekly.com.au/news/labors-luba-grigorovitch-catched-kororoit/ | title=Labor's Luba Grigorovitch catched Kororoit | date=27 November 2022 }}
In December 2021, she was preselected as Labor's candidate for the safe seat of Kororoit. The incumbent member, Marlene Kairouz, attempted to retain preselection but was defeated in internal party processes.{{cite web |date=14 December 2021 |title=Politics comes full circle for Luba Grigorovitch |url=https://www.afr.com/rear-window/politics-comes-full-circle-for-luba-grigorovitch-20211214-p59hht |access-date=27 May 2022}} Following that, in April 2022, Grigorovitch resigned as the state secretary of the RTBU and was succeeded by Vik Sharma.https://www.rtbuvic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/RTBUExpress_VOL9_ISSUE-4.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}} John Setka spoke at her farewell event in June of that year.{{Cite news |last=Wootton |first=Hannah |date=8 Sep 2022 |title=John Setka's ever-increasing rap sheet of allegations |work=Australian Financial Review |url=https://www.afr.com/rear-window/john-setka-s-ever-increasing-rap-sheet-of-allegations-20220908-p5bgeb}}
= Parliamentary career =
Grigorovitch was elected as the member for Kororoit at the 2022 Victorian state election.{{cite web | url=https://meltonmoorabool.starweekly.com.au/news/labors-red-wall-stands/ | title=Labor's 'red wall' stands | date=28 November 2022 }} She sat on the board of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation until, under the Victorian State Labor Government, the foundation "ceased operating from 1 July 2024".https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} She also Chairs the Victorian Parliament's Electoral Matters Committee.{{Cite web|url=https://new.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/committees/electoral-matters-committee/|title=Electoral Matters Committee | Parliament of Victoria|website=new.parliament.vic.gov.au}}
In December 2024, Grigorovitch was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Outdoor Recreation in the Allan Labor Government.https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/luba-grigorovitch/
Personal life
In 2017, Grigorovitch attended the Australian American Leadership Dialogue where she met Ben Gray. He later founded the Australian private equity firm BGH Capital, with business partners Robin Bishop and Simon Harle.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-02 |title=Ben Gray's BGH Capital is gunning for Pacific Equity Partners |url=https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/ben-grays-bgh-capital-is-gunning-for-pacific-equity-partners-20171002-gysfpj |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}} In December 2020, The Age reported that the two had been quietly dating.{{cite news |last1=Brook |first1=Stephen |last2=Hutchinson |first2=Samantha |title=Private equity giant's love match with union boss |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/private-equity-giant-s-love-match-with-union-boss-20201207-p56lek.html |access-date=2023-03-09 |work=The Age |date=2020-12-07}}
In January 2023, Grigorovitch and Gray married at their $30m Portsea mansion.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-22 |title=Private equity owner Ben Gray marries Labor MP Luba Grigorovitch |url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/food-and-wine/private-equity-owner-ben-gray-marries-labor-mp-luba-grigorovitch-20230119-p5ce1k |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-01-19 |title=Ben Gray sets Portsea clifftop record with $30m sale |url=https://www.afr.com/property/residential/portsea-clifftop-pile-sells-for-record-30m-20220117-p59ozr |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en}} Former Greens MLC, Colleen Hartland, officiated.{{Cite news |last=Byrne |first=Fiona |date=21 January 2023 |title=Politicians and business leaders at power couple Ben Gray and Luba Grigorovitch's Mornington Peninsula wedding |work=The Herald Sun |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/fiona-byrne/politicians-and-business-leaders-at-power-couple-ben-gray-and-luba-grigorovitchs-mornington-peninsula-wedding/news-story/028250169ca68ae7b70e76469e2a0435}}
The wedding was attended by many of Victoria's political, business, and union elite, including Premier Daniel Andrews, Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll, union leader John Setka, and Alan Tudge M.P., who was best man.{{Cite news |last=Baz |first=Backroom |date=30 January 2023 |title=Sloppy spelling plaguing Liberal Party leader - Luba |work=Herald Sun |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/sloppy-spelling-plaguing-liberal-party-leader/news-story/0d08be88a9d748a338997d1fbee6ded3}}{{cite news |last1=Houston |first1=Cameron |last2=Sakkal |first2=Paul |title=Union heavyweight 'headbutts rival' at Christmas party |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/union-heavyweight-headbutts-rival-at-christmas-party-20221211-p5c5f0.html |access-date=2023-03-09 |work=The Age |date=2022-12-11}} Reportedly, the event was a popular topic of discussion among Victorian politicians even a week after the date.
The couple's ownership of a $30m mansion has also been a talking point in Victorian political circles, with the Herald Sun reporting speculation that it would be used by opponents to harm her political image.{{Cite news|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/union-boss-luba-grigorovitchs-link-to-sorrento-mansion-a-hot-topic/news-story/e04daf36d94383a131a1a374c9417141 |title=Union boss Luba Grigorovitch's link to Sorrento mansion a hot topic |last=Baz |first=Backroom |date=24 January 2022|work=Herald Sun}} In response to a request for comment on the issue, Grigorovitch stated she was "proudly a woman from the west", and pointed to her having a mortgage being paid in her own name.
According to her parliamentary register of interests, Grigorovitch is a landlord, owning a rental property in Southbank, as well as industrial land in Altona. Her partner runs the Australian private equity firm BGH capital.{{Cite web |date=16 January 2023 |title=Legislative Assembly Primary Returns - Register of Interests Returns submitted by Members of the Legislative Assembly |url=https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/file_uploads/Register_of_Interests_-_Returns_submitted_by_Members_of_the_Legislative_Assembly_____Primary_Returns_____16_January_2023_7ychVfns.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210035044/https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/file_uploads/Register_of_Interests_-_Returns_submitted_by_Members_of_the_Legislative_Assembly_____Primary_Returns_____16_January_2023_7ychVfns.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2023 }}
Notes
References
Hansard
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Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Category:People from Altona, Victoria
Category:21st-century Australian politicians
Category:21st-century Australian women politicians
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria
Category:Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly