Francesco (Frank) Terenzini is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party 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 ...

from 2007 until 2011, representing the electorate of

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

. He was a lawyer and teacher before entering politics. Terenzini was born 19 August 1961 at

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 ...

to Giuseppe and Angela Terenzini. He attended public schools in the Hunter Region. He left school at 16 to become an apprentice boilermaker at the

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Steelworks. He later completed an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic and spent the next 10 years in the motor repair industry, eventually becoming motor vehicle inspector with the

Roads and Traffic Authority The Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA) was an agency of the New South Wales Government responsible for major road infrastructure, licensing of drivers, and registration of motor vehicles. The RTA directly managed state roads and provided fundin ...

. He went on to teach apprentices at TAFE and eventually obtained a Diploma in Teaching from the University of Technology, Sydney. He continued his studies and became interested in law. He studied at Macquarie University externally and was awarded a Bachelor of Legal Studies (B.Leg.S) On 30 June 1994 he was admitted as a solicitor of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...

. He worked in private practice as a solicitor and also in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. He worked as a prosecutor for 10 years. In 2007 he stood for election for the

Legislative Assembly of New South Wales 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 House ...

for the electorate of

. His main competitors for the seat were Bob Geoghegan

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and Mayor of the

and former Member for Maitland, Peter Blackmore as an Independent. Terenzini narrowly won Maitland with 19,989 votes (51.98%) to Blackmore's 18,463 (48.02%) after preferences. He served as a Member of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics from 2007 to 2010 and was the Chair of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption from 2007 to 2010.

Ministerial career

On 21 May 2010 Terenzini was appointed to the frontbench as Minister for Small Business, Minister Assisting the Premier on Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Housing. He served until his retirement at the 2011 election.

Personal life

He is married to Susan Terenzini and they have two daughters; Angela and Katherine. His interests include restoring vintage cars, Labor Party history and Australian history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terenzini, Frank 1961 births Living people 20th-century Australian lawyers Australian schoolteachers Australian politicians of Italian descent Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian lawyers