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Bruce Norman Atkinson (born 15 May 1953) is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since October 1992, representing Koonung Province from 1992 to 2006 and Eastern Metropolitan Region from 2006 to 2022. He was the President of the Legislative Council from 2010 to 2018.
Atkinson subsequently spent four years on the backbenches, during which time he did not serve on any committees. After a significant loss of the shadow ministry following the Liberal Party's defeat at the 2002 state election, Atkinson was appointed as the party's spokesperson for small business. He was also appointed to serve on the Housing and Economic Development Committees, and was Deputy Chair of the latter.
In January 2004 he was appointed spokesman for sport and recreation. In December 2006 he was elected Deputy President of the Legislative Council and relinquished his shadow ministry positions. In 2009 he was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Business Development. Following the Coalition's victory in the 2010 state elections, Atkinson was elected President of Victoria's Legislative Council.
Atkinson was reappointed to the role of Legislative Council President in December 2014, defeating Labor nominee Gayle Tierney. New Vic. Parliament sits first day In 2019, media reported that Atkinson was an honorary member of a foreign influence organization known as the World Trade United Foundation, which has ties to the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. In response, Atkinson claimed that he derived no financial benefit from the organization and that his title was solely honorific in nature. In May 2019, Atkinson became vice chairman of a water technology company that is linked to World Trade United Foundation.
On 9 June 2022, Atkinson announced that he would not be contesting the 2022 Victorian state election.
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