Michael Stanley Veitch (born 19 December 1962) is an Australian politician and Labor Party member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

. Veitch has been a member of the Council since 24 March 2007.

Early life

Veitch was born at

Gundagai, New South Wales Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

to parents Bob and Val. He is the oldest of five children. He attended Adelong Central School in his primary school years. His secondary studies were undertaken at Tumut High School.

Early career

Leaving high school, he worked as a shearer, a train station assistant and a disability worker. He finished his railway career as an Assistant Station Master at Rydalmere and Toongabbie train stations. He completed further studies at TAFE. He became the Executive Officer of the Wiradjuri Country Community Group Limited and then the General Manager (Growth and Strategy) of Job Centre Australia Limited.

Political career

He joined the Labor Party in March 1989 He became the Secretary of the Young Branch of the Labor Party. He has been a delegate to the NSW ALP State Conference and the National Conference. He was elected as an independent shire councillor for Young Shire Council in September 1995. He was re-elected in 1999 and 2004. In 1998, he ran as the Labor Party candidate for the federal seat of Hume (a

Liberal/National coalition The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP, is an political alliance, alliance of Centre-right politics, centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Politic ...

safe seat). He was unsuccessful in that campaign, losing to Liberal Party candidate

Alby Schultz Albert John "Alby" Schultz (29 May 193914 July 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Hume in New South Wales. Biogra ...

. Veitch was deputy chair of the nine-member Southern Area Health Board for New South Wales. Veitch was elected on 24 March 2007 to the

with the 19th-highest quota at that election. He has served as Deputy Government Whip, Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Industries and on numerous Legislative Council Committees. Since 2011 he has served on the Opposition front bench holding responsibility for Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services and Regional and Rural Affairs. He is currently the Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Lands and Western NSW. At the 2022 NSW Labor Conference, he was disendorsed for the upcoming 2023 state election.

Personal life

He is divorced and has four children, and six grandchildren. He and his former wife were foster parents.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veitch, Mick 1962 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians