Victor John Perton (born 2 December 1958) is a former parliamentarian in the Australian state of Victoria, and formerly the Victorian Government's Commissioner to the Americas, based in San Francisco, USA. Early life Perton was raised in Melbourne and is the son of refugees from Latvia and Lithuania, part of the large Baltic migration to Australia from refugee camps in Northern Europe after the Second World War. Perton attended Catholic schools, of which St Joseph's Junior College was one, later studying economics and law at Monash University, Melbourne University and Peking University. Political career He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1988 to November 2006, representing the electorate of Doncaster for the Liberal Party. Political aspirations He joined the Liberal Party in 1976 and served on the State Executive as State President of the Young Liberal Movement and in various state and local constituency offices over the next decade. He graduated from university in 1982, and began practicing as a solicitor, as well as being a part-owner of a retail business. In 1984 Perton was called to the Bar and became a barrister at the Victorian Bar. The same year, Perton ran as the Liberal candidate against Bob Hawke in 1984 Federal Election for his seat of Wills. Perton subsequently gained admission to practice law in five states and in 1987 gained a Diploma of Chinese Law from Peking University in the People's Republic of China. He remained active within the Liberal Party after graduating, serving on its state council and state policy assembly, and in 1988 stood as the Liberal candidate in the safe Liberal seat of Doncaster. He was easily elected. In Opposition, he became well known for his use of freedom of information legislation and Government Scrutiny. He was a member of the Liberal Party Investigatory Committee on Casino Policy in 1990 and became a critic of the introduction of gaming machines and casinos into Victoria. He was a Member of the Coalition Tricontinental Taskforce and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer with special responsibility for manufacturing industry and economic development. Kennett government During the Kennett government, Perton was active in regulatory scrutiny, regulatory reform, technology policy and e-democracy. Perton was the first Australian parliamentarian with a website and later the first to use an electronic town hall. Perton served as the first chairman of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee.