Matthew Jason Guy was born on 6 March 1974 and is an Australian politician.
45 Facts About Matthew Guy
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Matthew Guy has been a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria since 2006, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council and Bulleen in the Legislative Assembly.
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Matthew Guy was Leader of the Opposition in Victoria and state leader of the Liberal Party from 2014 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 2022, having resigned following his respective losses in the 2018 and 2022 Victorian state elections.
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Matthew Guy is of Ukrainian descent on his maternal side; his mother was born in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine and arrived in Australia in 1949 with her parents as displaced persons.
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Matthew Guy has a Bachelor of Arts in politics and history from La Trobe University and completed postgraduate studies in Ukrainian language and culture at Monash University.
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Matthew Guy worked briefly as media adviser to Senator Rod Kemp, before returning to state politics as chief of staff to opposition leader Denis Napthine from 1999 to 2002.
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In 2003, Matthew Guy joined the Victorian Farmers Federation as marketing and communications manager.
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Matthew Guy moved to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 2004 as government relations manager.
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Matthew Guy was the Liberal candidate for Yan Yean in the 2002 Victorian state election but was not elected.
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Matthew Guy was re-elected at the 2010 Victorian state election and was appointed Minister for Planning.
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In September 2011, Matthew Guy overruled Bass Coast Shire and rezoned a 5.7-hectare farming property at Ventnor, Phillip Island, from farmland into the township making it available for development.
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Nicholls purchased the property based on the rezoning decision and subsequently sought to sue Matthew Guy and have his original rezoning decision reinstated.
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In defence, Matthew Guy stated in court documents that he acted in error in rezoning the land but had relied on the advice of ministerial staff.
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Matthew Guy says he overturned his decision after learning that the Bass Coast Shire Council opposed the extension of town boundaries at Ventnor.
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Matthew Guy denied discussing the Ventnor project with Ms Nicholls or even knowing of her interest in the property.
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Confidential Government documents show Matthew Guy ordered the multimillion-dollar payment despite repeated legal advice from a number of senior lawyers that the government had a strong case, and there was little or no grounds for a damages claim against it.
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In early 2014, Matthew Guy overruled his department to block the release of freedom of information documents about the botched rezoning of farmland on Phillip Island.
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In March 2014, Mr Brouwer found that Matthew Guy was ultimately responsible for the rezoning decision and that he had refused to hand over important documents requested as part of his investigation.
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However, Mr Brouwer found that Matthew Guy was unaware that his advisers were acting in his name when asking for the planning department to change its advice.
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The one project Matthew Guy did not approve and instead intervened to stop was an 88-metre apartment tower at 35 Albert Road, where he imposed height controls.
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In February 2014 Matthew Guy approved five large apartment developments on what he dubbed as "Super Tuesday".
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On 29 August 2011, Minister Matthew Guy delivered on this commitment through approval of Amendment VC82 to the Victoria Planning Provisions, prohibiting new wind turbines within two kilometres of homes unless there is written consent from the homeowner.
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Matthew Guy's electorate is home to the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere and hosts wind turbine tower manufacturer Keppel Prince.
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In July 2014, Matthew Guy announced a small adjustment to the planning laws allowing existing wind farm permits to be amended, which may assist with upgrading turbine technology.
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Matthew Guy was elected as leader of the Liberal Party in a leadership ballot contested on 4 December 2014, making him Leader of the Opposition after defeating Michael O'Brien for the position.
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Matthew Guy and Tony Madafferi first crossed paths in 2013 when Guy, the then Planning Minister in the Liberal Party government, was a special guest at a fund-raising event in Docklands at a venue Madafferi co-owned.
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Matthew Guy claimed to have had no knowledge Madafferi was at or hosting the event.
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Matthew Guy's office confirmed his attendance, but denied the meeting was secret or that Matthew Guy was aware of Madafferi's presence until he arrived, although secretly recorded phone conversations appeared to contradict these statements.
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Matthew Guy led the party to a disappointing showing at the November 2018 state election.
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Matthew Guy's campaign focused chiefly on curbing crime in parts of Melbourne as well as seeking to shift population growth in Melbourne to regional Victoria, though this strategy failed to increase the Liberal vote in the state.
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Matthew Guy resigned as leader of the Liberal Party on 28 November 2018, and was replaced by Michael O'Brien.
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On 6 September 2021, Matthew Guy resigned from O'Brien's shadow cabinet ahead of a possible leadership challenge.
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Matthew Guy oversaw Bernie Finn being expelled from the Liberal party.
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On 13 September 2022, during a Victorian parliamentary session for offering of condolences following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Matthew Guy mistakenly referred to King Arthur as one of the historical monarchs of the United Kingdom, rather than King Alfred.
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Matthew Guy counter-attacked Daniel Andrews over email contact between Andrews and property developer John Woodman.
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Matthew Guy said the emails were an "integrity" issue and that Andrews had to "come out and explain" them.
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The ambulance was used to tie into Matthew Guy's promised regarding the building of new hospitals and recruiting 40,000 new medical staff.
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Matthew Guy promised to axe stamp duty for first home buyers on properties up to $1 million for 12 months.
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On 10 November 2022, Matthew Guy downplayed his deputy David Southwick using two staffers employed by Southwick as actors in campaign ads without disclosing they are members of his campaign staff.
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When Matthew Guy was asked if the use of paid staffers in campaign ads was misleading, Matthew Guy replied by endorsing Southwick and stating that "it was not misleading" regardless of the lack of a disclaimer.
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On 19 November 2022, Matthew Guy dumped Renee Heath, the first ranked candidate for the Liberal ticket in the Eastern Victoria Region of the upper house Victorian Legislative Council, from the party after her far-right conservative religious views, including support for Conversion therapy, were bought to light by a newspaper investigation.
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The morning following the election Matthew Guy announced that he would resign as leader of the Liberal party.
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Matthew Guy has served as Victorian Shadow Minister for Public Transport since October 2023, and was appointed Shadow Minister for Transition to Government in January 2025.
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Matthew Guy is married with three children and met his wife while he was serving as chief of staff to the then opposition leader, Denis Napthine.
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Matthew Guy is a Christian, and in his maiden speech to parliament stated that he attended Scots' Church, Melbourne.