Political career
Baird was a member for the electorate of Northcott in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1984–1995. He was Minister for Transport 1988–1995,Minister for Sydney's Olympic Bid 1990–1993 and Minister for Tourism and Roads 1993–1995. He was also deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1992 to 1994. [4]
Baird was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to November 2007,representing the electorate of Cook,New South Wales. He also held the positions of chairman of the National Rail Corporation,and was a board member of ABN Amro Hoare Govett,Tourism Training Australia and Tourism Education Services. [5] Baird along with fellow Liberal MPs Petro Georgiou,Russell Broadbent and Judi Moylan opposed mandatory detention of asylum seekers. [6]
In April 2007,he announced that he would retire at the next election. [7] A fierce battle over his successor ensued;Michael Towke was initially preselected as the Liberal candidate 86 votes to 8 but was the target of several negative news reports,before being replaced with Scott Morrison,who went on to win the seat. [8]
Despite being a former deputy leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales,Baird never served as a Federal Government minister during his time in Federal Parliament. [2] Baird had been overlooked for promotion by Prime Minister John Howard because he was a supporter of Deputy Liberal leader and Howard's heir apparent Peter Costello. [7]
Another factor that precluded Baird's promotion by Howard was that Baird's preselection for Cook prior to the 1998 election came against Howard's wishes as Howard had supported the previous Liberal member and preselected candidate for Cook,Stephen Mutch. [9]
Sensing that he would not be promoted by Howard,Baird in 2004 sought to become Speaker but was unsuccessful with David Hawker chosen as the Government's candidate for Speaker instead. [10]
After politics
Baird was appointed Chairman of the Tourism and Transport Forum,a peak industry lobby group,in 2008. In the same year,he was also appointed as chair of the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council,which advises the Australian government on resettling refugees in Australia. [11] In 2010 on Australia Day,he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia,and to the community of New South Wales through a range of business,tourism and welfare organisations. [12] In August 2017,Business Events Sydney announced the appointment of Baird as their new Chairman,commencing from 1 September 2017. [13]
Private life
Bruce and Judy Baird's children are Steve Baird,Chief Executive Officer [14] International Justice Mission Australia;Julia Baird,columnist with the Sydney Morning Herald and host of the ABC News program The Drum ;and Mike Baird,now Chief Executive Officer of HammondCare,and previously the Premier of New South Wales from 2014 to 2017. [15] (Baird himself made an attempt to become Premier when he was a candidate to succeed Nick Greiner in 1992,but lost out to John Fahey.) [16]
Following the financial collapse of a number of private providers of education to international students,in 2009 Baird agreed to head up a review into international education in Australia. [17] Baird delivered the report in a joint press conference in March 2010. Included in his recommendations were tighter regulation including stronger entry requirements,improved risk assessment,and where breaches occur,tougher penalties. [18]
He is a patron of the Asylum Seekers Centre,a not-for-profit that provides personal and practical support to people seeking asylum in Australia. [19]
The Division of Cook is an Australian electoral division in the State of New South Wales.
Sir Eric Archibald Willis was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with double honours. Enlisting during World War II, Willis served on the homefront and later served in New Guinea and the Philippines. He continued to serve the Citizen Military Forces until 1958.
Kerry Anne Chikarovski is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales and Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002, the first woman to hold the post.
Melinda Jane Pavey, is a former Australian politician. Pavey had been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2023, representing the seat of Oxley for The Nationals. She was previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 2002 and 2015.
Andrew James Constance is an Australian politician who represented Bega for the Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 2003 and December 2021.
Anthony John Roberts is an Australian politician. Roberts is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Lane Cove for the Liberal Party since 2003. He is the longest-serving Member of the Legislative Assembly and so holds the honorary title of "Father of the House."
Bradley Ronald "Brad" Hazzard is a retired Australian politician who served as the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly district of Wakehurst between May 1991 and March 2023.
Jillian Gell Skinner is an Australian politician who was the New South Wales Minister for Health in the Baird government. Skinner was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing North Shore for the Liberal Party from 1994 to 2017 and was the Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 2007 to 2014. Between 2011 and 2015 Skinner also served as the Minister for Medical Research. On 27 January 2017, Skinner announced her intention to resign from the ministry and from Parliament.
Raymond Craig Williams is an Australian politician who has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the seat of Kellyville for the Liberal Party since 2023. He previously represented the electorates of Hawkesbury from 2007 to 2015 and Castle Hill from 2015 to 2023.
Stephen Bruce Mutch is an Australian academic, and former politician with an academic interest in cultic organisations. A member of the Liberal Party, he served in the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1988 to 1996 and represented the seat of Cook in the House of Representatives from 1996 to 1998.
Robert Gordon Stokes is a retired Australian politician. Stokes served as the New South Wales Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Cities, and the Minister for Active Transport in the Perrottet ministry between 21 December 2021 and 25 March 2023. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Pittwater for the Liberal Party between 2007 and 2023.
David Amos Arblaster was a New South Wales politician, Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Tourism in the cabinet of Sir Eric Willis until the Liberal party lost the 1976 election. Arblaster was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Electoral district of Mosman in 1972 and served until his retirement in 1984.
Stuart Laurence Ayres is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 19 June 2010 to 25 March 2023, representing the electorate of Penrith as a member of the Liberal Party.
Paul Lawrence Toole is an Australian politician. Toole was the Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 2021 to 2023, and the leader of the New South Wales Nationals from October 2021 to May 2023.
Troy Wayne Grant is an Australian politician and former police officer. Grant has been the Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) since August 2021, and is Australia’s first in this position. Previously, he was the Minister for Police and the Minister for Emergency Services from January 2017 until March 2019 in the Berejiklian government. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Dubbo for the Nationals from 2011 to 2019.
Mark Raymond Speakman is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2011, representing Cronulla for the Liberal Party. On 21 April 2023, he became the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales.
Niall Mark Blair is a former Australian politician and was the former Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Nationals. Blair was a Nationals member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from March 2011 until October 2019, when he retired from politics.
Sarah Ann Mitchell, an Australian politician, is the former Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning in the second Berejiklian ministry and in the Perrottet ministry. She has been a Nationals member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since March 2011.
The Baird ministry (2014–2015) or First Baird ministry was the 94th ministry of the Government of New South Wales, and was led by Mike Baird, the state's 44th Premier.
The 2021 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election was a leadership vote held on 5 October 2021 to elect a new leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party of Australia and subsequently the Premier of New South Wales, following the resignation of Gladys Berejiklian. The election was conducted among the Liberal Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales and contested between Dominic Perrottet and Rob Stokes. Perrottet won the election 39 votes to 5. Stuart Ayres was elected unopposed as deputy party leader.
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