James Henry Griffin is an Australian politician. Griffin 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 Environment and Heritage 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 ...

since December 2021. He 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 the

electoral district of Manly Manly is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, and covers a large portion of the Northern Beaches Council local government area. Created in 1927, although it has historically tended to be ...

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 ...

. Griffin was elected on 8 April 2017 at the Manly state by-election held to replace the previous member, former Premier of New South Wales

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 ...

. He has previously served as the NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Veterans, the NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Health, and previously served as the NSW Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment.

Background

Griffin went to school at St Mary's Cathedral College, and in 2006 was one of the first students to enrol at the Sydney campus of the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2008. Griffin was also involved in local government, serving a single term as a councillor on

Manly Council Manly Council was a local government area on the northern beaches region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, first incorporated in 1877. On 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced that Manly Council would be subsumed into the ...

, and as deputy mayor under Mayor

Jean Hay Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

from 2015 to 2016 when the council was amalgamated into the

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringa ...

. His mother, Cathy Griffin, was a Major in the Australian Army, and also served one term as a councillor in Manly, albeit as a member of the

NSW Greens The Greens NSW, also known as the NSW Greens, is a green political party in New South Wales and a member of the Australian Greens. First formed in 1991, the Greens NSW began as a state-level party before joining with other green parties in Austr ...

. He is the son of Australian Army Officer Brigadier Michael Griffin AM (Ret) who was the Australian Commissioner for Law Enforcement Integrity. Griffin was appointed as an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Business at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney. He has also served as a board member of the University of Sydney Innovation Hub. Griffin co-founded SR7, a digital risk consulting company, in 2009. In February 2014, SR7 was acquired by professional service group

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

, with Griffin joining the firm as a Director in the Risk Consulting Practice.

Political career

Identified as a rising star in the NSW Parliamentary Liberal Party, Griffin was appointed a Member of the Legislation Review Committee in June 2017, and subsequently appointed Chair of the same committee in November 2017. The Legislation Review Committee reviews all Bills introduced into Parliament and reports on the impact of these Bills on personal rights and liberties. In September 2018 Griffin was elected Chairman of the NSW Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Planning. The Committee tabled the Land Release and Housing Supply in NSW report in October 2018.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales KPMG people University of Notre Dame Australia alumni New South Wales local councillors Deputy mayors of places in Australia 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub