Barbara Mazzel Anne Perry (born 6 April 1964) is an Australian former politician, representing

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

for the Labor Party in 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 ...

from 2001 to 2015. Perry was the first woman of Lebanese origin to be elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Early years and background

One of five children, Perry is the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Ralph and Susan Abood, and is married to Michael Perry with five sons. She was educated by the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

and the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

before graduating in law from 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 ...

, commencing work with the

Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

in 1990.

Political career

Perry was elected in a by-election on 8 September 2001 following the resignation of Labor Member

Peter Nagle Peter Richard Nagle (born 23 March 1946) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2001, representing the electorate of Auburn. Nagle was born in Sydney, and studied at ...

and re-elected at the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

state elections. Following the 2007 state election, Perry was appointed Minister for Juvenile Justice, Minister for Western Sydney and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship in the

second Iemma ministry The Iemma ministry (2007–08) or Second Iemma ministry is the 90th ministry of the Government of New South Wales, and was led by the 40th Premier Morris Iemma. It was the second and subsequent of two occasions when Iemma was Premier. The Second ...

, serving until December 2008. In December 2009, Perry was appointed to the

Keneally ministry The Keneally ministry is the 92nd ministry of the Government of New South Wales, and was led by the 42nd Premier Kristina Keneally. The ministry was formed following a caucus motion to elect a new Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New Sou ...

as Minister for Local Government and Minister Assisting the Minister for Mental Health, taking on the additional responsibilities of Minister for Juvenile Justice in June 2010. Perry retained these portfolios until the 2011 state election when Labor was defeated at the polls. Subsequently, Perry was appointed Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services, Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Shadow Minister for Ageing and Disability Services. On 7 January 2015, after a bitter pre-selection contest, Perry announced that she would not seek Labor endorsement for the 2015 state election. She stood down in order to make way for newly elected leader

Luke Foley Luke Aquinas Foley (born 27 July 1970) is a former Australian Labor Party politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from 2015 to 2018. Foley was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Counci ...

to have a clear run for her seat. Foley needed to contest a Legislative Assembly seat as he was a member of the Legislative Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Barbara 1964 births Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian people of Lebanese descent Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Politicians from Sydney 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians