Chris Harris (born 28 June 1951) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n politician who served as the first Greens Councillor of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

, and for a single term as the Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2006 to 2007.

Early life and career

Christopher David Harris was born in

Wentworthville Wentworthville is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wentworthville is located 27 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Wentworthville is split ...

on 28 June 1951 and schooled at

Parramatta Marist High School , motto_translation = Go Forth With Strength , location = 2 Darcy Road, Westmead, Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia ...

. He attended 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-intensive ...

and graduated with

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

in the 1970s and a

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 ...

in 2005. He married Kathy in 1972 and together they raised two daughters. Harris worked in the Commonwealth Bank then moved on to a position in research in the Reserve Bank. After moving into small business, his work focused on campaigns, communications, conflict resolution, and project coordination.

Political career

In 2004, Harris was preselected by his party prior to the March 2004 local government election, and was the first Greens Councillor to be elected to the

. He served as Deputy Lord Mayor (2006-2007) and in 2008 was re-elected along with a second Greens Councillor, Irene Doutney. Early in his constituency, he took residence in a Moreton Bay Fig tree as a protest against planned removal. Harris was an opponent of the Sydney cross-city tunnel which opened in 2005. In March 2007, he was involved in a scuffle with

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 ...

senator

Bill Heffernan William Daniel Heffernan (born 3 March 1943), is an Australian former politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Senate representing the state of New South Wales from September 1996 to May 2016. Early life and background Heffernan was bo ...

while handing out how-to-vote cards for the NSW State Election. In June 2007, Harris fought against the redevelopment of the Carlton United Brewery site in Chippendale, taking the then Minister for Planning to the Land and Environment Court. In August 2007, Harris heavily opposed the security measures put in place for the hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. Harris was the unsuccessful Greens candidate in the 2012 Sydney by-election, and retired from council at the September 2012 local government elections.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Chris 1951 births Living people Australian Greens politicians Politicians from Sydney Sydney City Councillors Deputy Lord Mayors of Sydney