The Honourable Dr
Geoff Lee
Minister for Corrections
In office
21 December 2021 – 28 March 2023
PremierDominic Perrottet
Preceded byAnthony Roberts
(as Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections)
Succeeded byAnoulack Chanthivong
Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education
In office
2 April 2019 – 21 December 2021
PremierGladys Berejiklian
Dominic Perrottet
Preceded byJohn Barilaro
(as Minister for Skills)
Succeeded byAlister Henskens
(as Minister for Skills and Training)
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for Parramatta
In office
26 March 2011 – 25 March 2023
Preceded byTanya Gadiel
Succeeded byDonna Davis
Personal details
Born
Geoffrey Lee

1967 or 1968 (age 55–56)[1]
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal
Alma mater
OccupationPolitician, academic and former horticulturalist

Geoffrey Lee (born c. 1967[1]) is a former Australian politician. He served as the Minister for Corrections in the second Perrottet ministry between December 2021 and March 2023.[2] He has previously served as the Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education in the second Berejiklian and Perrottet ministries between April 2019 and December 2021.[3][4][5] Lee was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Parramatta for the Liberal Party since 2011 until his retirement in 2023.[6]

Early years and background

Geoff Lee was born in 1967 and has an Anglo-Celtic Australian and Chinese Australian background. He attained a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in horticulture from the University of Western Sydney – Hawkesbury and was managing director of Hambledon Garden Centre, a garden centre and landscaping business in Parramatta from 1992 until 2001.[6][7] He completed his Master of Business Administration from Macquarie University's School of Business Administration in 2001 and commenced teaching part-time at Liverpool TAFE. From 2004 to 2006, Lee was a lecturer in business at the University of Western Sydney (UWS)[7] and, during this time, completed a Doctor of Business Administration degree at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.[6] In 2007, he was appointed Associate Dean (Engagement) at UWS.[6][8][9]

Political career

At the 2011 state election, Lee was elected as member for Parramatta and received a swing of 25.8 points in the traditionally strong Labor seat. Going into the election, Labor held Parramatta with a majority of 13.1 points. As a measure of the size of the massive Coalition wave that swept New South Wales that year, Lee picked up a swing large enough to turn Parramatta from a very safe Labor seat into a very safe Liberal seat in one stroke. He later said that could not have won—and certainly not with as large a swing—without winning over dozens of people who had never voted for a Liberal before.[10] He was re-elected in 2015 and 2019, becoming the first non-Labor member since the 1950 state election to have held the seat for more than one term.

Prior to the 2019 NSW state election in May, Lee served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier, Western Sydney and Multiculturalism from 1 Feb 2017 to 23 Mar 2019. Following the 2019 state election, Lee was appointed as the Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019.[11] Amid an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into former sports minister John Sidoti in September 2019, Lee was appointed Acting Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans until the preliminary investigation concluded.[12] Sidoti later resigned from Cabinet in March 2021 and "Lee will continue to act in those portfolios until I determine a replacement in the near future," according the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.[13] Following the October 2021 election of Dominic Perrottet as Leader of the NSW Liberal Party and his appointment as Premier, Perrottet reshuffled the ministry with effect from December 2021, where Lee was appointed as Minister for Corrections.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Green, Antony (5 April 2011). "Parramatta". NSW Votes 2011. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Parliament, Ministerial, Courts and Police (662)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "Government Notices (30)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 1088-1090. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "Premier announces new Cabinet" (Press release). Premier of New South Wales. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. ↑ Han, Sophie (2 April 2019). "Berejiklian's new massive cabinet sworn in amid peals of laughter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Dr (Geoff) Geoffrey Lee, BAppSc(Hort), MBA, DBA MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Geoff Lee". Liberal for Parramatta. Liberal Party of Australia (NSW). 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "Libs announce Parramatta candidate". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. AAP. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  9. ↑ Bartok, Di (12 November 2010). "Liberal candidate for Parramatta is Geoffrey Lee". Parramatta Advertiser. News Limited. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Madden, James (28 March 2011). "Cynical heartland voices its disgust". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  11. ↑ Sas, Nick (31 March 2019). "Gladys Berejiklian says Liberal Party has no women problem as re-elected NSW Premier shuffles Cabinet". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  12. ↑ "NSW Minister John Sidoti steps down pending ICAC probe into property deal". www.abc.net.au. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  13. ↑ "NSW Liberal MP John Sidoti resigns from Cabinet after ICAC launches public inquiry". www.9news.com.au. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.

 

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