Sophie Cotsis Explained

Honorific-Suffix:MP
Office:Minister for Industrial Relations
Term Start:5 April 2023
Premier:Chris Minns
Predecessor:Damien Tudehope (as Minister for Employee Relations)
Office1:Minister for Work Health and Safety
Term Start1:5 April 2023
Premier1:Chris Minns
Predecessor1:Damien Tudehope (as Minister for Employee Relations)
Parliament2:New South Wales
Constituency Mp2:Canterbury
Term Start2:12 November 2016
Predecessor2:Linda Burney
Office3:Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales
Term Start3:7 September 2010
Term End3:16 September 2016
Predecessor3:John Della Bosca
Successor3:John Graham
Birth Date:19 November 1973
Birth Place:Canterbury, Sydney
Party:Labor Party
Residence:Kyeemagh[1]
Occupation:Union organiser

Sophie Cotsis (; born 19 November 1973)[2] [3] is an Australian politician and current New South Wales Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Work Health and Safety in the Minns ministry since April 2023. She was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 7 September 2010 to 16 September 2016, when she resigned in order to contest a by-election for the Legislative Assembly seat of Canterbury.

Early life

The daughter of Greek migrants, Cotsis grew up in the St George district together with her brother. She was educated at Canterbury South Public School and at Kingsgrove High School before matriculating to Macquarie University, where Cotsis became a member of the University's Hellenic Studies Foundation and established a program that preserved the Greek language and Hellenic heritage at the University.[4] Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University, Cotsis later completed a Master of Legal Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.[5]

Career

Prior to entering parliament Cotsis was a hospitality worker at Sydney Airport, later becoming an official with the Labor Council of New South Wales and subsequently the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. Cotsis joined the Labor Party in 1993, partly inspired by Paul Keating.[4] She later became an adviser to former New South Wales Treasurer Michael Costa until March 2008, when she became an adviser to the infrastructure company Parsons Brinckerhoff.[6]

In September 2010 Cotsis was appointed to the Legislative Council to fill a casual vacancy following the resignation of John Della Bosca.[5] In September 2016, Cotsis resigned from the Legislative Council after she was preselected to contest the Legislative Assembly seat of Canterbury for Labor at the by-election to fill the vacancy left by Linda Burney, who had resigned to contest the federal seat of Barton at the 2016 federal election.

Following Labor's victory at the 2023 NSW election, Cotsis was sworn in as the Minister for Industrial Relations and the Minister for Work Health and Safety on 5 April 2023.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Candidates - The Legislative Assembly District of Canterbury . elections.nsw.gov.au . . 27 March 2023.
  2. News: Aston . Heath . Fed up with Sussex St . . 5 September 2010 . 3 February 2011.
  3. Web site: Member for Canterbury. Hansard. 19 November 2020.
  4. Web site: Inaugural speech . . . 27 October 2010 . 3 April 2019.
  5. Ms Sophie Cotsis, MP . 53 . 3 April 2019.
  6. News: Nicholls . Sean . Labor's fresh new face Sophie Cotsis a change from party factions . The Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Media . 7 September 2010 . 7 September 2010.
  7. Web site: Simos . Andriana . 2023-04-05 . New NSW Labor Cabinet official sworn in . 2023-08-19 . Greek Herald . en-AU.