Alister Andrew Henskens (born 30 December 1963) is an Australian politician. He has served as the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Minister for Skills and Training, the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly since December 2021 in the

Perrottet ministry The Second Perrottet ministry or Second Perrottet–Toole ministry is the 99th ministry of the Government of New South Wales, and is led by Dominic Perrottet, the state's 46th Premier. The Liberal–National coalition ministry was formed on 2 ...

. He previously served as the Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services between May and December 2021. Henskens has been a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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 ...

since 2015, representing the electorate of

electoral district of Ku-ring-gai Ku-ring-gai is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. Since 2015 it has been represented by Alister Henskens of the Liberal Party. The electorate covers the suburbs and parts of the subur ...

in Sydney's upper North Shore.

Background and career

He was born and raised in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. His father immigrated to Australia from the Netherlands in 1951 while his mother was schooled in Ku-ring-gai. Henskens studied economics and law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

while residing at St Andrew's College, before receiving a master's degree in law from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

on a Rotary Scholarship. He practised as a solicitor from 1987 to 1996 and as a barrister thereafter, becoming Senior Counsel in 2011. He specialised in general commercial, insolvency, banking, defamation, building and construction law. He was a director of Basketball NSW from 1997 to 1998, and had a long involvement with local basketball organisations in

and Sydney. He was Counsel Assisting the Equine Influenza Inquiry in 2008. Henskens also represented former NSW State Member for Terrigal,

Chris Hartcher Christopher "Chris" Peter Hartcher (born 21 December 1946) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2015, representing the electorates of Gosford (1988–2007) and Terrigal (2007–2 ...

at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)'s Operation Spicer inquiry in 2014. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 2015 state election, succeeding former Premier

Barry O'Farrell Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is a former Australian politician who has been Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan since May 2020. O'Farrell was the 43rd Premier of New South Wales and Minis ...

in the safe Liberal seat of Ku-ring-gai. He had won a closely fought Liberal preselection, with other contenders including radio presenter Jason Morrison. He was re-elected as the Member for Ku-ring-gai at the 2019 state election. Henskens was until early 2017 the Chair of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, a member of the Legislation Review Committee and a member of the Committee on Investment, Industry and Regional Development. He was in 2015 the Chair of the Select Committee on the Regulation of Brothels and a member of the Joint Select Committee on Companion Animal Breeding Practices. Henskens served as the Cabinet Secretary between 24 April 2019 and 27 May 2021, having previously served as the Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, Services and Property since 1 February 2017. Henskens was appointed to Cabinet in May 2021 as Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services, and further promoted again on 21 December 2021 as Minister for Skills and Training, the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, and as Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly, in the Perrottet ministry.

Personal life

Henskens and his wife have two children. Henskens' niece is climate activist

Violet Coco Deanna Maree “Violet” Coco, May need to scroll down. (born 1989 or 1990) usually known as Violet Coco, is an Australian climate activist who was briefly jailed on remand for blocking the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2022. She successfully ...

and Henskens had earlier voted in support of the antiprotest legislation that was used to sentence Coco to 15months imprisonment in December 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henskens, Alister 1963 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales People from the North Shore, Sydney Australian people of Dutch descent 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Senior Counsel