Marie Tehan

Who was Marie Tehan?

Marie Therese O'Brien Tehan was an Australian parliamentarian and lawyer.

A member of the Liberal Party, Marie Tehan served in both Houses of the Victorian Parliament. She was the member for Central Highlands in the Legislative Council from 1987 to 1992 and for Seymour in the Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 1999. As a minister in the Kennett Liberal Government she held the portfolios of Minister for Health from 1992 to 1996 and Minister for Conservation and Land Management from 1996 to 1999.

Educated at Sacre Coeur convent school, Glen Iris, Melbourne and at the University of Melbourne, Marie O'Brien qualified as a lawyer. She married James "Jim" Tehan in 1963 and settled in regional Victoria. They had six children. Her son, Dan Tehan, is the current federal member for Wannon, elected in the 2010 federal election.

She established her own legal practice in Mansfield, Victoria in 1970.

She was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 1987 and retired from Parliament in 1999. She died at Nagambie after a short illness on 31 October 2004, aged 64.