Jamie Parker (politician)

Jamie Parker MP
Parker at the NSW election campaign launch, March 2011
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Balmain
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 March 2011
Preceded by	Verity Firth
Majority	2.2% (2011)
Mayor of the Municipality of Leichhardt
In office 13 September 2008 – 19 May 2011
Preceded by	Carolyn Allen
Succeeded by	Rochelle Porteous
Personal details
Born	Jamie Thomas Parker Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Greens New South Wales
Alma mater	Macquarie University
Website	www.jamieparker.org.au

Jamie Thomas Parker MP, an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Balmain for the Greens since 2011. Parker is the first Green to represent his party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Political career

Parker has been active in social justice and environmental issues for many years and whilst at University was elected the NSW President and subsequently the National Environment Officer of the National Union of Students.^[1]

Parker stood for and was elected to Leichhardt Council in 1999 as a Green. Parker was subsequently re-elected in 2004 and 2008. Whilst on Council he has served as chair of the Environment Committee, as Deputy Mayor and, since 2008, as the Mayor of Leichhardt. He retired from Council at the 2012 election.^[2]

Parker has served as the Convener of NSW Greens (i.e. state party chairman).

Parker won the seat of Balmain from Labor's Verity Firth at the 2011 State election.^[3][4][5] He is the first member of the NSW Greens to sit in the Lower House of the New South Wales Parliament.

Personal

Parker was born the second of four children in the English Midlands market town of Wellingborough when his parents were on a visit to the UK. His family had earlier migrated to Australia in 1968. His father was a fitter and worked at the Balmain ship yards.^[6]

Parker attended Macquarie University where he took a degree in Economics. Later he received a Masters Degree with Honours in Political Economy from the University of Sydney. He spent part of his Masters Degree living in Bangkok, Thailand and studying at Thammasat University.^[6]

When he left university he worked in The Greens parliamentary office for several years, then left to establish his own business. Parker was marketing manager of Cat Media, a company which was the subject of 41 complaints upheld by the Therapeutic Goods Administration between 2000 and 2006 for misleading advertising and exploiting consumers. Parker denied responsibility, saying "It wasn't my role to be putting together advertising and copywriting, I was positioning the stuff in pharmacies".^[7]

References