Mark Raymond Speakman (born 6 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He 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 ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

since January 2017 in the

second Berejiklian ministry The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

since April 2019, and in the first arrangement of 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 ...

. Speakman 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

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...

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 ...

since

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 ...

. He has previously served as the Minister for Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence in the Berejiklian and Perrottet ministries; and the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Heritage, and the Assistant Minister for Planning between April 2015 and January 2017 in the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Baird government.

Early years and background

Speakman attended government schools in

Caringbah Caringbah is a suburb in Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Caringbah is south of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Sutherland Shire. Caringbah once st ...

(including

Caringbah High School , motto_translation = Diligence conquers all , established = , grades = 7- 12 , grades_label = Years , principal = Alan Maclean , students = , type ...

) before studying law and economics at 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 ...

and then the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he graduated with a master's degree. A practising lawyer, he was called to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1991, and was made

senior counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdicti ...

in 2004.

Political career

Preselected in November 2010, following announcement that the sitting member Malcolm Kerr would retire, Speakman overcame a challenge from

Stephen Mutch Stephen Bruce Mutch (born 4 February 1956) is an Australian academic, and former politician with an academic interest in cultic organisations. A member of the Liberal Party, he served in the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1988 to 1996 ...

, a former member for the federal seat of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

and former state member of the Legislative Council. For Speakman he finally beaten Mutch in a preselection contest as Speakman had challenged Mutch for the Cook preselection prior to the 1998 federal election. Speakman however withdrew from that contest when former state deputy Liberal leader Bruce Baird became the compromise candidate. At the 2011 state election, Speakman was elected with a swing of 9.4 points and won the seat with 75.5 per cent of the vote on a

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

basis. Speakman's main opponent was Stefanie Jones, representing

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

. Premier

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 ...

considered immediately elevating Speakman to the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

following the 2011 election; however he was not appointed to the ministry until April 2015 when, following the 2015 state election, he was appointed as the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Heritage, and the Assistant Minister for Planning in the second Baird ministry. Following the resignation of Mike Baird as Premier,

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejiklian became a member ...

was elected as Liberal leader and sworn in as Premier. The

First Berejiklian ministry First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

was subsequently formed with Speakman sworn in as the Attorney General of NSW with effect from 30 January 2017. Following the 2019 state election Speakman was appointed as the Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence in addition to his responsibilities as NSW Attorney General in the second Berejiklian ministry with effect from 2 April 2019; a title subsequently amended as the Minister for Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence in May 2021. In the second arrangement of the Perrottet ministry, he retained the portfolio title of Attorney General. In September 2018, Speakman reportedly broke

Victor Dominello Victor Michael Dominello (born 30 July 1967 in Ryde, New South Wales), is an Australian politician who has been the New South Wales Minister for Customer Service in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019, and in the Perrottet minis ...

's arm in an office

arm wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The s ...

match.

References

External links

Mark Speakman SC
– Tenth Floor Chambers , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Speakman, Mark Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian Senior Counsel 1959 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century Australian politicians Attorneys General of New South Wales

Early years and background

Political career

See also

References

External links