Alexander John McTaggart (born 24 January 1949) is an Australian politician who was an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for

Pittwater Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located about north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the Ce ...

between 2005 and 2007. At the time of his election, McTaggart was also the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Pittwater Council Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about north of the Sydney central business district. The area is named ...

Early life

Alex McTaggart grew up in the

area of Sydney, attending

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

Public School and then St Paul's Catholic College in Manly, before finishing with his Leaving Certificate and then gaining an Associate Diploma of Teaching (Technical) as well as horticulture and landscape design qualifications.

Political career

Following the sudden resignation of John Brogden as

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and his subsequent resignation from Parliament, McTaggart was elected to the Legislative Assembly in a 2005 by-election for Pittwater in what many considered as a shock result. The Liberals lost over 22 percent of their primary vote from 2003, allowing McTaggart to win with 55 percent of the two-party vote. His victory was cited as a "disastrous loss" for the Liberal Party in a seat it had held for 32 years. McTaggart attributed his election win to his opposition to the television show ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...

'' being filmed at

Avalon Beach Avalon Beach is a northern beachside suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 37 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beache ...

. In 1999, McTaggart had been a protester against a proposal for ''Baywatch'' to film permanently at the beach. McTaggart was defeated in the 2007 state election, with Pittwater returning to the Liberal Party's

Rob Stokes Robert Gordon Stokes (born 17 January 1975) is an Australian politician. Stokes is the New South Wales Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Cities, and the Minister for Active Transport in the Perrottet ministry since 21 December 20 ...

. McTaggart continued to serve on Pittwater Council as a North Ward Councillor, for which he was first elected in September 1999, until its amalgamation into the Northern Beaches Council on 12 May 2016.

Northern Beaches Council

On 12 May 2016, with the release of the ''Local Government (Council Amalgamations) Proclamation 2016'', the

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringa ...

was formed as per Warringah's submission, from Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils. McTaggart was then named by Northern Beaches Administrator

Dick Persson Richard Mark Persson (born 1950) is a former senior New South Wales and Queensland public servant and local government administrator. Early career Richard Mark Persson was originally from Randwick, New South Wales, where he graduated from the U ...

as a member of the Implementation Advisory Group, one of several advisory committees composed of former councillors and mayors of the three councils. McTaggart then stood as an independent candidate for Pittwater Ward of the Northern Beaches Council and was elected in the second ward position on 9 September 2017. He unsuccessfully stood for re-election to this position at the following election held on 4 December 2021, being excluded on the 11th preference count after receiving 12.68% (0.5 of a quota) of the first preference vote in Pittwater Ward.

References

1949 births Living people Mayors of places in New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Independent-politician-stub