Lidia Argondizzo

Who is Lidia Argondizzo?

Lidia Serafina Argondizzo is an Australian politician. She was the Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing Templestowe Province from 2002 to 2006.

Argondizzo was born in Italy, but immigrated to Australia as a child. She attended Preston Girls' High School and received an MBA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. After graduating, she was employed by the Victorian Health Department for several years. It was during this period that Argondizzo was elected as a councillor in the City of Northcote in 1987. She left the Health Department the following year to take up a position as an electorate officer for Giovanni Sgro, an ALP member of the Legislative Council was also in the Party's left-wing.

In 1989, Argondizzo was elected mayor of the City of Northcote, and got a job as an electorate officer with ALP Senator Barney Cooney. She continued on as a councillor until 1993. During this period, she made several unsuccessful attempts to secure ALP preselection for a seat in either State or Federal parliament. At one time she was a member of the splinter Left faction the Pledge Left, where she appeared likely to obtain preselection partly due to the support she received from her brother Frank Argondizzo, a then official at the Vehicle Builders Union. Tensions emerged within the Pledge Left about her candidacy and she was not selected as a result. She returned to the Socialist Left faction soon after.