Kevin John Humphries (born 2 April 1960), an Australian politician, was 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 Barwon for the Nationals from 2007 to 2019. He was the Minister for Healthy Lifestyles and Mental Health between 2011 and 2014; and the

Minister for Western New South Wales The Minister for Western New South Wales is a minister in the New South Wales Government with responsibility for the region to the west of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia. It was first established in 2011 in the O'Far ...

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 since April 2011. In April 2014, he was appointed as Minister for Natural Resources, Lands and Water during the Cabinet reshuffle under Premier

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 ...

Early years and background

Kevin Humphries is the son of Eileen and Frank Humphries who were married in Tamworth in 1958. He grew in Tamworth and attended St Edward's Primary School which was run at the time by the Sisters of St Joseph. He would on to complete his secondary education at the Christian Brothers College. Kevin Humphries obtained a scholarship to study at the Catholic Teachers College in

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

. He then went to complete a Bachelor of Education externally through University of New England in

Armidale, New South Wales Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

. He obtained a Graduate Diploma of Religious Studies (Grad Dip RE) through the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

in Brisbane. His first teaching position was in 1981 at St Patricks Primary School in Walcha. It was in Walcha that he met his wife and where they were in 1985. They moved to Tamworth and he taught secondary school at Rosary College for four years. He then went on to become the Principal at Sacred Heart School at

Boggabri Boggabri ( ) is a small town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is part of Narrabri Shire and lies between Gunnedah and Narrabri on the Kamilaroi Highway. At the , the town had a population of 856 people. The original town site w ...

, principal at Sacred Heart School at Geeveston in Tasmania and finally as principal at St Philomena's School in Moree in 1995. It was in Moree in 1995 that Kevin Humphries first became a director of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy. In 2001 he left the school system and began a management consultancy company. His company specialised in worked in the cotton industry, aged care and the retirement sector. In 2002 he became chair of the New England and North West Area Consultative Committee which was a Federal Regional Partnerships Program set up by the Australian Government.

Political career

Due to the resignation of

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 ...

as Premier, and the subsequent ministerial reshuffle by Mike Baird, the new Liberal Leader, in April 2014 Humphries was promoted as Minister for Natural Resources, Lands and Water and retained the portfolio as Minister for Western New South Wales in the

Baird ministry Baird may refer to: Places United States * Baird, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Baird, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Baird, Texas, a city * Baird, Washington, a community * Baird Mountains, Alaska * Baird Inlet, Alask ...

. Humphries lost his Cabinet roles in April 2015 due to a post-election reshuffle. Humphries was a member of Parliament as the Member for Barwon from 2007 until his retirement in 2019.

Personal life

Humprhies is married to Linda and has two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphries, Kevin 1960 births Living people People from Tamworth, New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians