Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable |
Richard Amery | |
Constituency Mp: | Mount Druitt |
Parliament: | New South Wales |
Term Start: | 25 May 1991 |
Term End: | 6 March 2015 |
Predecessor: | Seat recreated |
Successor: | Edmond Atalla |
Constituency Mp2: | Riverstone |
Parliament2: | New South Wales |
Term Start2: | 22 October 1983 |
Term End2: | 3 May 1991 |
Predecessor2: | Tony Johnson |
Successor2: | John Aquilina |
Birth Name: | Richard Sanderson Amery |
Birth Date: | 1951 3, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Liverpool, New South Wales |
Party: | Labor Party |
Occupation: | Police officer |
Richard Sanderson Amery (born 31 March 1951) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1983 to 2015, representing the electorates of Riverstone (1983-1991) and Mount Druitt (1991-2015).[1]
Prior to entering politics, Amery spent several years in the retail industry before becoming a police officer with New South Wales Police, where he served for 13 years. At the time he resigned to take up his political work he was a senior constable.[1]
Amery was the Minister for Agriculture from 1995 to 1997, when he was allocated additional responsibilities as Minister for Land and Water Conservation. He served as minister in both portfolios until 2001, when the Land and Water Conservation was allocated to another minister and Amery took on Corrective Services.[1]
Amery returned to the backbench following the 2003 election, as part of a larger reshuffle which also saw the departure of Ministers John Aquilina (who became Speaker) and Paul Whelan (who retired from Parliament).
As the longest-serving member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Amery is bestowed a colloquial title, Father of the House.[2] On 8 August 2014 Richard Amery announced that he would leave politics at the next NSW state election in 2015.[3] Father of the House Richard Amery (Mount Druitt) retired from parliament in 2015.[4]