Scott Glynn Farlow is an Australian politician. He has been a 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 ...

since the 2015 NSW state election, representing 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 ...

. Farlow previously served as Mayor of the

Municipality of Strathfield The Municipality of Strathfield, also known as Strathfield Council, is a local government area in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Strathfield Council was incorporated on 2 June 1885. The Council area was ...

, elected to the position at just 23 years of age. Farlow is married to Penny George-Farlow who together have a son Christian and daughter Colette.

Early life

Farlow grew up in Sydney's Inner Western suburbs. He was the first member of his family to study at university, graduating with degrees in Law and Commerce from 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 ...

. He later graduated from the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

with a Diploma of Legal Practice. Farlow got his start in politics by joining the

Sydney University Liberal Club The Sydney University Liberal Club (SULC) is a student association operating under the auspices of the University of Sydney Union (USU). The club hosts policy debates, annual dinners, student election campaigns, and guest speaker events with mem ...

, becoming a member of the Liberal Party soon after. He became active in the Young Liberal Movement of NSW and in 2008 was elected president of the organisation, going on to become its longest-serving president. In 2004 Farlow was elected to Strathfield City Council and became mayor in 2007. At the age of 23, Farlow was the youngest mayor in Australia at that time. Farlow worked as an advisor to a number of federal and state MPs during his career. Farlow has also worked as an analyst and lobbyist for firms such as

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

and Hill+Knowlton.

Political career

Farlow was preselected by the Liberal Party to run as a candidate for the NSW Legislative Council at the March 2015 Election. He was subsequently elected and is serving an eight-year term set to expire in 2023. In Farlow's inaugural speech to the NSW Parliament he highlighted increasing efficiency and transparency in government expenditure as one of his priority policy areas. He also spoke on the need to restore state rights in order to counter the issue of vertical fiscal imbalance and to restore competitive federalism. Farlow has been appointed and chaired a number parliamentary committee's since entering the Upper House in 2015. In May 2015 he was appointed chair of the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Law and Justice. The same year Farlow was appointed a member of the Committee on the Ombudsman, the Police Integrity Commission and the Crime Commission. The following year Farlow was appointed to the Standing Committee on Social Issues, which he chaired whilst concurrently being a member of the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 as well as chairing the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. Farlow was appointed chair of the Regulation Committee as of December 2017. In February 2017 Farlow was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and Leader of the House in the Legislative Council; a position he held until April 2019. Following the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

, in April 2019 Farlow was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

, serving to 20 December 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farlow, Scott Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian politicians