Bradley Ronald "Brad" Hazzard (born 30 August 1951), an Australian politician, has been 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 Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

since January 2017 in the Berejiklian and Perrottet ministries. Hazzard is a 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 ...

representing Wakehurst for the

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 ...

since 1991. Hazzard has previously served as the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and the Minister Assisting the Premier on Infrastructure NSW in the

O'Farrell O'Farrell is an anglicised form of the Old Irish patronym ''Ó Fearghail''. People with the surname * Barry O'Farrell, Australian politician * Bernadette O'Farrell (1924–1999), Irish actress * Bob O'Farrell, American baseballer * Brett O'Farrel ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

between 2011 and 2014; as the Attorney General of New South Wales and the

Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

between 2014 and 2015 in the

first Baird ministry First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

; and as the Minister for Family and Community Services and the

Minister for Social Housing The Minister of Housing is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the government's house-building programme. The position was established in 1938 as Minister in charge of Housing, and has most commonly been known a ...

between April 2015 and January 2017 in the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Baird government.

Background and early career

Hazzard was educated at Manly Boys' High School (now

Manly Selective Campus , motto_translation = What We Receive, We Pass On , location = 138 Abbott Road, North Curl Curl, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Austra ...

), Macquarie University where he gained a Bachelor of Arts (Science) and a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the g ...

, the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

where he graduated

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

, and 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 ...

where he graduated

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

. Hazzard was then employed as a science teacher (1974–1977) before being admitted as a solicitor in 1977. He was a partner in a Manly law firm from 1981 to 1996.

Political career

In 1983, Hazzard joined the Liberal Party and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming regional president and a member of the state executive from 1985 to 1986. Hazzard was pre-selected as Liberal Party candidate for Wakehurst in April 1991, ahead of the sitting Liberal Party member John Booth. He was elected to NSW Legislative Assembly in 1991 and sat in the backbench during the Greiner and Fahey governments. Hazzard played a role in the ' Metherell affair', involving the neighbouring Member for

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

Terry Metherell Terry Alan Metherell (born 9 January 1947) is a former Australian politician who represented the Electoral district of Davidson in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premi ...

, who upon his resignation from the Liberal Party had expressed to Hazzard his interest in one of the Directorships at the new Environmental Protection Authority. Hazzard discussed this with Premier Greiner and the Minister for the Environment, Tim Moore, at Greiner's residence in February 1992. Greiner and Hazzard then discussed the matter with Metherell while in Parliament ten days later. The government subsequently created the job for Metherell, which he accepted, effectively engineering a vacancy in a seat that the Liberal Party would recover at a by-election. At the May 1992 by-election the Labor Party did not nominate a candidate, and a field of Independents and minor parties reduced the Liberal vote by 16 points (14 points after preferences), nevertheless won by Liberal candidate

Andrew Humpherson Andrew Humpherson (born 15 August 1960) is a former Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Davidson from 1992–2007. He has since pursued a career in public affairs overseeing the Government a ...

NSW Opposition

After the Labor Party won the 1995 election, Hazzard was appointed to the Opposition frontbench and held various shadow portfolios. Under Opposition Leader Peter Collins, Hazzard was Shadow Minister for Corrective and Emergency Services (1995–96), Environment (1996–1997), Aboriginal Affairs (1996–2007), and Sport and Recreation (1997–99) Under

Kerry Chikarovski Kerry Anne Chikarovski (née Bartels; 4 April 1956) is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales and Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002, the first woman to hold the post. Early li ...

he was Shadow Minister for Housing (1999–2000), Corrective Services (1999–2000), Disability Services and Ageing (2000–03), and Community Services (2000–03). Under John Brogden he was Shadow Minister for Energy and Utilities (2003–05), Science and Medical Research (2003–05), Youth (2005), and Community Services (2005). Under

Peter Debnam Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

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 ...

he was Shadow Minister for Education (2005–07) and was made Shadow Minister for Redfern Waterloo (2007–08). He was also appointed Shadow Minister for Planning (2008–11) and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure (2008–11). Between 2007 and 2011 Hazzard criticised the State Labor Government's move to take planning powers away from Local government and handing them to government-appointed planning panels and their attitudes towards development of heritage areas.

NSW Government

In April 2011 Hazzard was appointed Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and Minister Assisting the Premier on

Infrastructure NSW Infrastructure NSW is an government agency, agency of the Government of New South Wales that provides independent advice to assist the NSW Government in identifying and prioritising the delivery of critical public infrastructure across the Austra ...

. He also served as Leader of the Legislative Assembly from April 2011 to April 2014. Due to the resignation of

as Premier, and the subsequent ministerial reshuffle by

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...

, the new Liberal Leader, in April 2014 Hazzard was sworn in as the Attorney General and as the Minister for Justice; and lost the portfolio of Planning and Infrastructure. In April 2015, following the 2015 state election, Hazzard was sworn in as the Minister for Family and Community Services and the Minister for Social Housing in the second Baird ministry. Following the resignation of Baird as Premier,

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejiklian became a member ...

was elected as Liberal leader and sworn in as Premier. The Berejiklian ministry was subsequently formed with Hazzard sworn in as the Minister for Health and the Minister for Medical Research with effect from 30 January 2017. Following the 2019 state election the two portfolios were merged as the Minister for Health and Medical Research. In December 2021, Hazzard was sworn in as the Minister for Health, with the responsibilities of the Office of Medical Research transferred to the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, Alister Henskens. On 25 October 2022, Hazzard announced his retirement from politics ahead of the 2023 state election.

Personal life

Hazzard has two adult sons. Hazzard married his second wife Nicole in February 2020.

Policies and beliefs

In August 2019, Brad Hazzard came out in support of removing abortion as a criminal offence (after 119 years within the NSW

Crimes Act 1900 The ''Crimes Act'' 1900. is a New South Wales statute that sets out the majority of criminal offences for the state of New South Wales in Australia. It, the Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914. and the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 form the majo ...

section(s) 82–84) via a bill he co-sponsored with 14 others of all different political parties and independents. The bill passed the parliament on 26 September 2019. Hazzard also supported proposals to ban the controversial practice of

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...

at a state and national level, however, a bill had not yet been introduced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazzard, Bradley Ronald 1951 births Australian schoolteachers Australian solicitors Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Sydney Law School alumni University of New South Wales Law School alumni Macquarie University alumni Science teachers Attorneys General of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians