Jeff Shaw (politician)

Jeffrey William Shaw QC (born 10 October, 1949 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian lawyer, and former Attorney-General of New South Wales.

Early life and Education

Shaw was educated at Boronia Park and Chatswood public schools, and Hunters Hill High School. He graduated in Arts and Law at the University of Sydney in 1973.

Legal career

Shaw was admitted as a solicitor of the New South Wales Supreme Court in 1975 and a barrister in that court the following year. On 12 November 1986, Shaw was appointed Queen's Counsel. He specialised in industrial law.

Politics

Shaw was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in the New South Wales Legislative Council in May 1990, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The ALP was in opposition at the time, and Shaw served as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Local Government from 1991 to 1995.

Upon the election of the ALP to government in March 1995, Shaw became Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, positions he held until 2000. Shaw was also the Minister for Fair Trading from 1998 to 1999.

Shaw retired from the Legislative Council in 2000. He was regarded as an "iconic figure" within the ALP, a member of the Left faction who drove the party's reformist agenda [Andrew Chesterton. [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22227875-5006010,00.html "Jeff Shaw's fall from grace"] , "Daily Telegraph", 12 August 2007, retrieved 5 October 2007] .

Judicial career

Shaw was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 4 February 2003.

On October 13 2004, Shaw crashed his car into a parked vehicle near his Sydney home. He was taken to hospital where a blood sample was taken; however, the sample disappeared. Under pressure from the Opposition Liberal Party, the Police Integrity Commission initiated an enquiry into the circumstances of the sample's disappearance. In November, Shaw surrendered the blood sample to the police and resigned from the Supreme Court. He was later charged with negligent driving and driving while drunk [ [http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1247576.htm Transcript] of PM ABC Radio Program, 19 November 2004] .

Post-judicial career

Shaw is now a director of The People's Solicitors, a Sydney law firm. [ [http://www.peoplesolicitors.com/staff.html The People's Solicitors] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/1fb6ebed995667c2ca256ea100825164/9cd619a8e185257a4a25672e0002e1cc!OpenDocument Parliamentary biography]
* [http://www.peoplesolicitors.com/ The People's Solicitors]