Member for North-Eastern Metropolitan Region, Sonja Terpstra, has advised the Victorian Premier that she will not be seeking re-election in November.
Ms Terpstra was elected to the Legislative Council in 2018, after more than 20 years in the union movement.
“She brought that experience, and her understanding of the issues facing working people, to her work in the Parliament,” said Premier Ben Carroll.
“Sonja is the only Labor woman elected to represent the north-eastern suburbs in the Legislative Council since the Upper House reforms of 2006.”
For five years Sonja chaired the Environment and Planning Committee. Under her leadership it conducted the Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline in Victoria, the largest inquiry in the history of the Legislative Council, alongside inquiries into air pollution and renewable energy, the Premier said.
“Sonja knows first-hand the difference TAFE can make. As Victoria’s first TAFE Ambassador, she drew on her own experience as a TAFE student to show Victorians what TAFE and Free TAFE can offer. That same commitment to opportunity has made her a strong advocate for public education and for investment in our public schools.”
“I thank Sonja for her service to the north-eastern suburbs, the Parliament and the Labor movement, and wish her, her husband Barry, and her children Daniel and Jessica all the best for the future.”
In a social media post, Ms Terpstra said her service had been an honour.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to serve in public life – one that a kid who left her public high school in year 10 would never have imagined was possible. But it is and was,” she wrote.
“I look forward to serving the rest of my term up until the 2026 Victorian election.”
