Laurie Ferguson

Laurie Donald Thomas Ferguson (born 7 July 1952) is a former Australian politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from March 1990, representing Reid until 2010 and Werriwa until May 2016, both in New South Wales.


Laurie Ferguson
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Reid
In office
24 March 1990  21 August 2010
Preceded byTom Uren
Succeeded byJohn Murphy
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Werriwa
In office
21 August 2010  9 May 2016
Preceded byChris Hayes
Succeeded byAnne Stanley
Personal details
Born
Laurence Donald Thomas Ferguson

(1952-07-07) 7 July 1952
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Spouse(s)Maureen Walsh
RelationsMartin Ferguson (brother)
Lynda Voltz (stepdaughter)
Paul Lynch (brother in-law)
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationResearch officer

Early life and education

Laurie Ferguson grew up in Guildford, the eldest son of Mary Ellen and Jack Ferguson, who was deputy premier of New South Wales 1976–84. His brother Martin was also a federal MP. Both attended at St Patrick's College, Strathfield. His younger brother, Andrew, was the former NSW Secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (Construction and General Division).

Ferguson was educated at the University of Sydney and was a research officer with the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union before entering politics.

Career

He was the member for Granville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1984–90.[1]

In the federal Parliament, Ferguson was elected to the opposition shadow ministry in March 1996 and was Shadow Minister for Immigration in 2004–05. His handling of the debate around Petro Georgiou's private member's bill on asylum seekers was severely criticised and he was shifted to Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs, Population Health and Health Regulation in June 2005. On the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007, Ferguson became Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services.

He was preselected to contest the south-western Sydney seat of Werriwa at the 2010 federal election after his existing seat of Reid was merged with neighbouring Lowe. Lowe MP John Murphy contested the redistributed Reid.[2] He was not re-appointed to the Gillard Ministry after the election. Ferguson is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Global Panel Foundation-Australasia.

Personal life

Ferguson is married to Maureen Walsh, a former councillor at Parramatta City Council in the Woodville Ward.[3]

References

  1. "Mr Laurie Donald Thomas Ferguson (1952- )". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  2. "Reid – Election 2010". Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  3. "Woodville Ward". Councillors and wards. Parramatta City Council. Archived from the original on 12 September 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Pat Flaherty
Member for Granville
1984–1990
Succeeded by
Kim Yeadon
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Tom Uren
Member for Reid
1990–2010
Succeeded by
John Murphy
Preceded by
Chris Hayes
Member for Werriwa
2010–2016
Succeeded by
Anne Stanley
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