David Harris (Australian politician)

David Harris
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Wyong
In office 24 March 2007 – 4 March 2011
Preceded by	Paul Crittenden
Succeeded by	Darren Webber
Personal details
Born	24 February 1966 (1966-02-24) (age 45)
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Residence	Hamlyn Terrace, New South Wales
Occupation	Primary School Teacher
Religion	Uniting Church

David Robert Harris (born 24 February 1966) is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electoral district of Wyong from 24 March 2007 until his defeat at the 2011 state election.

Personal life

Harris is one of three children born to his parents who grew up in Greenacre. His parents later moved to the New South Wales Central Coast.

Harris is married to Sherelle and they have two daughters.^[1]

Education and teaching career

Harris attended Woy Woy South Public School and Woy Woy High School where became school captain^[1].

Harris undertook tertiary studies and was awarded a Diploma of Teaching and began work in the public school system. He started his career as a teacher at Griffith Public School in 1987. The following year, in his second year of teaching, he became the principal of a one-teacher school at Merriwagga. He moved on to teach at Hillston Central School. It was in Hillston that he met his wife Sherelle.^[1]

Harris returned to the New South Wales Central Coast and became principal at Dooralong Public School and then deputy principal at Northlakes Public School.

Harris was later appointed principal at Gwandalan Public School and finally principal of Kariong Public School.

In 2006 Harris resigned as the principal to pursue a career in politics.^[1]

Political career

In 1987 Harris joined the Umina branch of the Australian Labor Party, eventually becoming the president of the Wyong branch and then the secretary of Dobell Federal Electoral Council.^[1]

Harris was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on 24 March 2007 as the Member for Wyong. He was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Education & Training, Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast. He was also Deputy Chair of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption and Chair of the Natural Resource Management(Climate Change) Committee. He was a Member of the Staysafe Committee (Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety) and a Member of the Standing Committee on Broadband in Rural and Regional Communities.^[2]

At the 2011 State election, Harris lost the seat of Wyong to his Liberal opponent; local small businessman Darren Webber. It was the first time the seat of Wyong had been held by any party other than the Labor Party and the win was a milestone for the Liberals.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} NSW Parliament Hansard: Inaugural Speech of the Member for Wyong
2. ^ NSW Parliament: David Harris MP

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by Paul Crittenden	Member for Wyong 2007 - 2011	Succeeded by Darren Webber

Persondata
Name	Harris, David Robert
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 February 1966
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death