Paul Edward McLeay a former Australian politician, was 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 the electorate of Heathcote

Electoral district of Heathcote

Heathcote is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Lee Evans of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Members for Heathcote:-Election results:...

 for the Australian Labor Party

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...

 between 2003

New South Wales state election, 2003

Elections to the 53rd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 22 March 2003. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...

 and 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...

. In 2010, McLeay resigned his position as a Minister

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

 on 1 September 2010 after he admitted using a parliamentary computer to visit gambling and porn websites. He was the fifth minister to resign from Kristina Keneally's

Kristina Keneally

Kristina Kerscher Keneally MP, is an Australian politician and was the 42nd Premier of New South Wales. She was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales and thus Premier in 2009, but went on to lose government to the Liberal/National Coalition at the March 2011 state election...

 Labor government.

Early years and background

McLeay is the son of Janice McLeay former Commissioner of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission and Leo McLeay

Leo McLeay

Leo Boyce McLeay , Australian politician, was a Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from June 1979 to October 2004. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives 1989-93.-Biography:...

, a former member of the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 between 1979 and 2004. He is married to Cassandra Wilkinson

Cassandra Wilkinson

Cassandra Wilkinson is an Australian author and president and co-founder of FBi Radio. She is married to Australian politician Paul McLeay. She was the transport advisor to former New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally.-Writing career:...

, author, president of FBi Radio

FBi Radio

FBi is an independent, not-for-profit community radio station in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local alternative music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of which at least half comes from Sydney musicians.FBi began 'test...

 and senior public servant. They have two children. Prior to entering politics, McLeay held the position of Assistant General Secretary of the NSW Public Service Association

Public Service Association of NSW

The Public Service Association of NSW is a union which represents New South Wales Government, NSW university and related private sector employees. The union is registered under New South Wales state legislation....

.

New South Wales parliamentary career

On entering Parliament, McLeay was appointed parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. In 2009, he was appointed Minister for Ports and Waterways and Minister for the Illawarra. In June 2010, McLeay was appointed Minister for Mineral and Forest Resources. In September 2010, McLeay resigned as a Minister.

McLeay is a Director of Engadine District Youth Services and President of the Bundeena volunteer fire brigade.

External links

• Speeches by Paul McLeay in Hansard