Rod Barton

Rod Barton is an Australian politician. He is the co-founder of the Transport Matters Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the Eastern Metropolitan Region. He was elected in November 2018, but was not re-elected at the 2022 election.

Barton established the Transport Matters Party in response to the deregulation of the taxi and hire car industry in 2017.

Before entering politics, Barton worked for 30 years in the taxi and hire-car industry.

Barton lives in Melbourne with his wife. He has two daughters and five grandchildren.

Early life and career Barton was born in 1958 in Footscray, Victoria. His parents arrived in Australia in 1951 via ship. At age 15, he left school and commenced working.

Barton began driving professionally approximately 30 years ago. Following in his family's footsteps, he started his working career by driving cabs, quickly moving into driving limousines as well.

According to The Age, between November 2018 and November 2021, Barton voted with the Andrews Government's position 63.3% of the time, the third-most of any Legislative Council crossbencher, behind only Fiona Patten (74.3%) and Andy Meddick (83.2%).