Telmo Languiller

Telmo Ramon Languiller-Tornesi (born 31 July 1957) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2018, representing the electorates of Sunshine (1999–2002), Derrimut (2002–2014) and Tarneit (2014–2018). From December 2014, he was Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, but was forced to resign in March 2017 for claiming a second house allowance. While entitled to the allowance, it failed the test of public opinion and Languiller was forced to repay the allowance by the Premier. He currently serves as Melbourne Victory FC's director of international relations.[1]

The Honourable Telmo Languiller
36th Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
In office 23 December 2014 – 25 February 2017
Deputy	Don Nardella
Preceded by	Christine Fyffe
Succeeded by	Colin Brooks
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Tarneit
In office 29 November 2014 – 24 November 2018
Preceded by	Tim Pallas
Succeeded by	Sarah Connolly
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Sunshine
In office 18 September 1999 – 30 November 2002
Preceded by	Ian Baker
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Derrimut
In office 30 November 2002 – 29 November 2014
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Personal details
Born	(1957-07-31) 31 July 1957 Montevideo, Uruguay
Political party	Labor Party

Parliamentary career

From 1993 to 1996, Languiller was electorate officer for former Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe, and became Chief of Staff for Andrew Theophanous in 1996 until 1999.[2]

In 1999, he was selected as the Labor candidate for the safe seat of Sunshine, succeeding Ian Baker whom he had beaten in the preselection, and was duly elected. His seat was abolished in 2002 and replaced with Derrimut, which Languiller won.[3] In 2002 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services, and he served as Acting Speaker since 2004. In 2006 he moved to the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs position, and then to Human Services in 2007.[2]

Following the election of the Daniel Andrews Labor government at the 2014 state election, Languiller was elected Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

In February 2017, The Age newspaper reported that Languiller had claimed $37,678 in second residence allowances to live in Queenscliff, a considerable distance from his western suburbs electorate of Tarneit. Languiller acknowledged that claiming the allowance had not met "community standards", and offered to repay the money. On 25 February, he resigned as speaker.[4] In January 2018, Victoria Police announced it had conducted an investigation into the allowance claims of Languiller and deputy speaker Don Nardella, and found insufficient evidence to charge either man with an offence.[5]

In August 2017, Languiller announced he was retiring from politics, and would not contest the next election in 2018.[6]

Personal life

Languiller was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, but soon migrated to Australia. He attended high school at Flemington in Victoria, and received a Bachelor of Arts majoring in sociology and politics from Footscray Institute of Technology. He had previously worked as a labourer, a Spanish interpreter, and a trade unionist.[2]

References

1. Lynch, Michael. "Melbourne Victory puts discussions with Dubai on the back burner". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
2. Parliament of Victoria (2008). "Languiller, Telmo". re-member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
3. "Derrimut – 2010 Victorian Election". ABC Elections. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
4. Tomazin, Farrah (25 February 2017). "Speaker Telmo Languiller resigns over expense scandal". The Age. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
5. "'Insufficient evidence' to charge Victorian MPs over allowance claims". ABC News. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
6. "Victorian MP rules out running in next election after expense controversy". ABC News. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2018.

External links

• Parliamentary voting record of Telmo Languiller at Victorian Parliament Tracker

Parliament of Victoria
Preceded by Ian Baker	Member for Sunshine 1999–2002	Abolished
New seat	Member for Derrimut 2002–2014
Preceded by Tim Pallas	Member for Tarneit 2014–2018	Succeeded by Sarah Connolly
Preceded by Christine Fyffe	Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 2014–2017	Succeeded by Colin Brooks