Fiona Heather Patten was born on May 1964 and is an Australian politician.
23 Facts About Fiona Patten
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Fiona Patten was the leader of Reason Australia and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2014 and 2022, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region, until she lost her seat at the 2022 state election.
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In March 2024, Fiona Patten announced that she was deregistering Reason Australia.
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Fiona Patten was born in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, the daughter of Colin Richard Lloyd "Rick" Fiona Patten, an Australian naval officer, and his wife Anne, a Scottish-born public servant who worked for a government-owned telecommunications company.
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Rick and Anne Fiona Patten had met in Scotland, where the former had been posted, and after her birth Fiona Patten spent parts of her childhood in the United Kingdom and the United States, in concert with her father's postings.
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Fiona Patten excelled in sport and took particular interest in swimming.
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Fiona Patten went on to study Landscape Architecture and Industrial Design at the University of Canberra.
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Fiona Patten later graduated with qualifications in fashion design and started her own fashion label, Body Politics.
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Fiona Patten eventually lost interest in her work, which had interfered with her social and professional life.
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Fiona Patten extended its interests into publications, public relations, business, and political advocacy.
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Fiona Patten scaled down her interests in the company in 2000 to pursue other interests in advocacy.
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Fiona Patten returned in 2006 and left again in 2014 when she was elected to the Victorian Parliament.
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Fiona Patten first sought election in the 1992 ACT general election.
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Fiona Patten contested the second election for representation in the multi-member single constituency Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly as part of the Hare-Clark Independent Party.
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Fiona Patten ran alongside the sitting member Craig Duby, however both Duby and Fiona Patten were unsuccessful in being elected.
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Fiona Patten contested the seat of Higgins in Victoria at the 2009 by-election.
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Fiona Patten received over 3 per cent of the vote, placing her 4th out of 10 candidates.
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Fiona Patten contested the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Victorian Legislative Council at the 2010 Victorian state election.
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Fiona Patten contested the 2012 Melbourne state by-election, coming third out of 16 candidates, receiving 6.6 per cent of the vote, in the absence of a Liberal Party candidate.
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In December 2018, Fiona Patten put forward a legislative bill to legalise cannabis in the state of Victoria.
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In February 2022, Fiona Patten introduced a bill to the Victorian upper house to decriminalise all drugs.
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At the 2022 Victorian state election, Fiona Patten was unsuccessful in her re-election to the Victorian Legislative Council.
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In March 2024, Fiona Patten announced that Reason was to be dissolved and that she had no plans for a political comeback in the 2026 Victorian state election.