Andrew Phillip Olexander (born February 26, 1965) is an Australian politician. He has been an independent member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing Silvan Province since November 2005, after being expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party, which he had represented since 1999. Olexander's career has been dogged by controversy after a 2004 drink-driving incident, which ultimately saw him lose Liberal Party pre-selection to contest his seat at the 2006 state election. He was subsequently expelled from the parliamentary party and forced to sit as an independent after vehemently criticising the party's pre-selection decision, and accusing the party for being homophobic. February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Olexander was born in the regional city of Geelong, though he attended high school in suburban Melbourne. He studied economics at the University of Melbourne before pursuing a career in market research. He became heavily involved with the Young Liberal movement, acting as its State President from 1989 to 1990. He also served on its Federal Policy Committee, as well as the broader party's Federal Council during the same period. Moorabool St, Geelong Landsat 7 imagery of the greater Geelong area. ... Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of approximately 3. ... The University of Melbourne   The Old Quad Building, formerly Old Law The University of Melbourne, located in Melbourne, Victoria, is the second oldest university in Australia, behind the University of Sydney, and is one of the countrys most prestigious universities. ... -1... This article is about the year. ...

In 1999, Olexander won pre-selection for the safe Liberal Legislative Council seat of Silvan Province, and was subsequently elected. After the Liberal Party's crushing defeat at the 2002 election, Olexander found himself promoted to the shadow ministry, taking on the portfolios of Youth, Arts and Consumer Affairs in December 2002. During 2002 and 2003, he also served on the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee. While in the shadow ministry, Olexander was particularly active in his criticism of art he deemed unnecessarily controversial. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Template:DecemberCalendar2006 December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the early hours of July 11, 2004, Olexander was driving home when he crashed his taxpayer funded car into four others, writing off at least one. He was taken to hospital, and subsequent tests revealed that he was over the legal blood alcohol limit of .05. He immediately resigned his three portfolios and issued a public apology, though he faced strong public criticism from party leader Robert Doyle. In the days after the accident, it was widely suggested that as a result, Olexander would be unlikely to retain Liberal pre-selection when he faces re-election at the 2006 election. Doyle later stated that he had seriously considered asking the party to dump Olexander immediately. In a strange coincidence, Olexander's accident came only six weeks after Carolyn Hirsh, the other member for Silvan Province (each seat in the Legislative Council has two representatives), was forced to resign from her committee positions after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol. July 11 is the 192nd day (193rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 173 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Doyle Robert Doyle (born May 20, 1953) is an Australian politician. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carolyn Dorothy Hirsh (born August 1, 1937) is an Australian politician representing Silvan Province. ...

Only weeks later, Olexander faced yet more questions when The Age newspaper raised queries over whether he was entitled to travel allowances he had claimed. Olexander had received an overnight allowance of more than $100 for each Legislative Council sitting day as a result of apparently residing in Ringwood East. The media began raising questions as to whether Olexander actually resided at the address, suggesting that his primary residence was an apartment located in Melbourne's central Docklands district. To make matters worse for Olexander, The Age revealed two weeks later that his Ringwood East house was only 25km from the city, which meant that he was ineligible to receive the allowance. Though he insisted that the discrepancy resulted from a bureaucratic mistake, he subsequently repaid the debt, on top of the approximately $100,000 damage to the crashed cars, and leased out his Docklands apartment and took out a loan to pay the costs. The Age is a broadsheet daily newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. ... Ringwood East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

While Olexander had once been considered a rising star of the Liberal Party, he had been little-known in the community beforehand, and as such the drink-driving incident has dogged his career ever since. He attracted some attention in late 2004 for advocating for greater funding for gambling support groups and his criticism of the government's backdown on their election promise to extend the Epping railway line to South Morang. However, the drink-driving incident returned to haunt him the following March, when he was found guilty on drink-driving charges and was fined and had his license cancelled for a year. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Epping railway line is a suburban railway in Melbourne, Australia. ... South Morang is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...

Olexander kept a relatively low profile throughout the remainder of 2005, and despite past controversy, attempted to retain Liberal preselection to contest his seat at the 2006 state election. He received some initial support when Opposition Leader Doyle backed his bid to remain in parliament, but failed to reach double figures in a ballot of the 150 preselection delegates; not enough to even gain him the bottom position on the ticket. As of November 2005, Olexander has not yet made any declaration as to whether he will retire from politics or contest the election as an independent. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In mid November 2005 Robert Doyle convened a meeting of the Parliamentary Liberal Party (PLP) and asked Olexander to show cause why he should not be expelled from the Parlimentary Party for "bringing the Party into disrepute". Subsequently Doyle convened a second meeting of the PLP on November 29, 2005 and moved that Olexander be expelled. This motion was carried (votes not released) Robert Doyle Robert Doyle (born May 20, 1953) is an Australian politician. ...

Olexander will now serve out the remainder of his term in the Upper House sitting on the cross benches. Olexander commented that he "would continue working as the member for the outer-suburban seat of Silvan and would sit on Parliament's cross-benches as an independent".