Garry Edwards | |
Parliament: | New South Wales |
Term Start: | 26 March 2011 |
Term End: | 6 March 2015 |
Predecessor: | Robert Coombs |
Successor: | Yasmin Catley |
Birth Name: | Garry Keith Edwards |
Birth Date: | 1950 9, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Sydney |
Party: | Independent |
Otherparty: | Liberal (until 2014) |
Nationality: | Australian |
Occupation: | Property conveyancer |
Garry Keith Edwards (born 6 September 1950) is a former Australian politician who represented the electoral district of Swansea in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party from 2011 to 2015.[1]
A property conveyancer, Edwards was elected to Council for the City of Lake Macquarie in 2008 and serves as Deputy Mayor.[2] He is an active member of the Belmont 16 ft Sailing Club and serves as Director of the Club. He is also a patron of Swansea Football Club.
Edwards won the previously very safe Labor seat from the incumbent member Robert Coombs at the 2011 state election following a previous attempt for the seat at the 2007 state election. Edwards was elected with a swing of 14.0 points and won the seat with 51.1 per cent of the two-party vote.[3] [4] Following his election, Edwards stated that he was yet to make a decision about whether he will continue to sit both on Council and as a member of parliament.[5]
On 14 August 2014, Edwards stood aside from the parliamentary Liberal Party following the ICAC testimony of Newcastle mayor and property developer Jeff McCloy, who told the Commission he had donated $1,800 cash-in-hand to Edwards' campaign. It is illegal in New South Wales to receive political donations from property developers.[6]
Edwards stood as an independent candidate for the seat Swansea at the 2015 state election. He received 14% of the primary vote and lost the seat to the Labor candidate Yasmin Catley.