Member, Parliament of Victoria

Batchelor was elected in a 1990 by-election to the district of Thomastown following the death of Beth Gleeson.

His parliamentary roles are listed as follows.^[2]

• Shadow Minister for Public Transport 1992-96.
• Manager of Opposition Business 1995-99.
• Shadow Minister for Transport 1996-99.
• Manager, Government Business in the Legislative Assembly October 1999-November 2010.
• Minister for Transport October 1999-December 2006.
• Minister for Major Projects 2002-05.
• Minister for Energy and Resources December 2006-December 2010.
• Manager of Government Business Legislative Assembly December 2006-November 2010.
• Minister for Victorian Communities December 2006-August 2007.
• Minister for Community Development August 2007-January 2010.
• Minister for the Arts January 2010-December 2010.

As Transport Minister, Batchelor oversaw the $750 million Regional Fast Rail project. In 2000, the State Government approved funding to upgrade rail lines to provide fast rail passenger services between Melbourne and Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Traralgon.

As Minister for Energy and Resources, Batchelor initiated the roll-out of smart meters to 2.5 million homes and businesses.^[3] The roll-out of smart meters was reportedly to assist with consumer choice on electricity providers and to help manage climate change. However, the roll-out was stopped when the budget blew-out from $800 million to $2 billion.^[4] The roll-out was completed under the Andrews Government in 2015.

According to Melbourne public transport academic Paul Mees, Batchelor "was staunchly against privatisation when in opposition and then continued with privatisation and reprivatisation in government.^[1]

On 7 October 2010 Batchelor announced, he would not re-contest his seat at the 2010 state election. He retired at that election. Dorothy, his partner, was also reported to be retiring from work.^[1]

Other roles

Prior to entering politics, Batchelor was a union official at Furnishing Trades Union, 1972-1982. From 1983 to 1990, he was ALP Victorian branch state secretary.^[2]

In February, 2012, Batchelor was appointed President of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. The Foundation, based in Melbourne, is the independent funding body annually distributing over $15m of federal grants to 220 Australian community based media organisations.^[5]