Two Central Coast MPs have been appointed as Ministers in the new Labor State Government.
The Central Coast will have its own dedicated Minister for the first time since 2015, with Member for Wyong David Harris appointed to the position.
Harris will also take on the portfolios of Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, Gaming and Racing, Veterans and Medical Research.
The last Minister for the Central Coast was Rob Stokes.
In 2015, the Liberal State Government appointed instead a Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, which position was held until 2019 by Scott MacDonald, and from 2019-2023 by Adam Crouch.
Harris, who served as Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, for Jobs Investment and Tourism and for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty from 2019 with the Labor Opposition, thanked Premier Chris Minns for his confidence in appointing him to multiple portfolios.
“I understand the importance of being tasked with driving gaming reform in NSW and undertaking a consultation with First Nations People to determine a future pathway to Treaty and agreement making,” he said.
“It is such an honour that would not have been possible without the Wyong electorate having faith in me.
“The recent election result was so amazing.”
Harris said he felt privileged to serve “such a wonderful area” and committed to ensuring the Central Coast has a loud voice in the new Labor Government.
Member for Swansea Yasmin Catley has also been appointed to the Minns Ministry, taking on the responsibility of Minister for Police and Counter Terrorism.
Catley said it was a great honour to serve as the state’s first female Police Minister.
“I look forward to working with NSW’s first female Police Commissioner Karen Webb, The NSW Police Association and all the fantastic men and women of the NSW Police force,” she said.
“For the first time in our state’s history we have a cabinet made up of 50 per cent women.
“With this, Premier Minns has demonstrated the respect Labor has for all women in NSW and the importance of women in leadership in the new Government.”
Announcing his full Ministry this week, Premier Minns said the Government would hit the ground running to deliver its mandate from the people of NSW.
The Minns Ministry is a reduced Cabinet of 22 Ministers, 50 per cent of whom are women (excluding the Premier).
Women will take on the key portfolios of Energy (Penny Sharpe), Police (Yasmin Catley), Regional NSW (Tara Moriarty), Finance (Courtney Houssos) and Regional Transport (Jennifer Aitchison).
For the first time in the state’s history, an Australian Minister was sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita (Daniel Mookhey) and a NSW Minister will be sworn in on the Quran (Jihad Dib).
“I’m proud of the team we have,” Minns said.
“We have a lot of hard work in front of us, and a big responsibility, but my team and I are up to the challenge.
“We have a clear mandate from the people of NSW to rebuild our essential services, to invest in the people who look after us – our nurses, teachers, paramedics, firefighters and police officers.
“Our priority is to help families and households deal with the increasing cost of living, the energy crisis and to fix our schools and hospitals.”
Terry Collins