Mark Speakman
Encyclopedia
Mark Raymond Speakman SC
Senior Counsel
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...

 MP, an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 representing Cronulla
Electoral district of Cronulla
Cronulla is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Mark Speakman of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Members for Cronulla:-Election results:...

 for the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 since 2011
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...

.

Early years and background

Mr Speakman attended government schools in Caringbah
Caringbah, New South Wales
Caringbah is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Caringbah is located 24 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Sutherland Shire...

 before studying law and economics at The University of Sydney and then Cambridge University where he graduated with a masters degree. A practicing lawyer, he was appointed to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

 in 1991, and was made senior counsel in 2004.

Political career

Preselected in November 2010, following announcement that the sitting member Malcolm Kerr would retire, Mr Speakman overcame a challenge from Stephen Mutch
Stephen Mutch
Stephen Bruce Mutch was an Australian politician. He was educated at the University of New South Wales and became a solicitor in 1979. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a policy advisor until he became a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1988...

, a former member for Cook
Division of Cook
The Division of Cook is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1969 and is named for James Cook, who mapped the east coast of Australia in 1770. It is located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, including Caringbah, Cronulla, Miranda and Sylvania...

. At the 2011 state election, Mr Speakman was elected with a swing of 9.4 per cent and won the seat with 75.5 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis. Mr Speakman's main opponent was Stefanie Jones, representing Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

. Premier O'Farrell
Barry O'Farrell
Barry Robert O'Farrell MP, is an Australian politician and is the 43rd Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Western Sydney, Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Ku-ring-gai for the Liberal Party since 1999.Born in...

 considered immediately elevating Mr Speakman to the ministry
O'Farrell Ministry
The O'Farrell ministry is the 93rd ministry of the Government of New South Wales, and is led by the 43rd Premier Barry O'Farrell.The Liberal–National coalition ministry was formed following the defeat of the Keneally Labor government at the 2011 election...

 following the 2011 election.

External links

  • Mr Mark Raymond SPEAKMAN, MP - Parliament of New South Wales
    Parliament of New South Wales
    The Parliament of New South Wales, located in Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney, is the main legislative body in the Australian state of New South Wales . It is a bicameral parliament elected by the people of the state in general elections. The parliament shares law making powers with...

  • Mark Speakman SC - Tenth Floor Chambers
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