Maxwell Shayne Mallard (born 4 September 1964) is an Australian politician. He has been a

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 ...

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 2015. He was formerly a councillor of the

City of South Sydney The South Sydney City Council was a local government area covering the inner-eastern and inner-Southern Sydney suburbs of Sydney. It was forcibly merged with the Sydney City Council by the New South Wales State Government in 2004. The council ch ...

from 2000 to 2004, and of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

from 2004 to 2012.

Political background and Council career

Mallard was President of the New South Wales branch of the Young Liberals from 1993 to 1994, succeeding John Brogden, who later became leader of the NSW Liberal Party and NSW Leader of the Opposition. Prior to election to the City of Sydney Council in March 2004, Mallard served as a councillor on the South Sydney City Council, from July 2000. In 2004, both Councils were amalgamated. Mallard is the first Liberal endorsed candidate elected to the City of Sydney. In 2008, Mallard ran against sitting candidate

Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...

for the popularly elected position of Lord Mayor, gaining 14% of the vote. Moore was re-elected. Mallard was instrumental in setting up the city's register of

same-sex relationship A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries w ...

s. Mallard has long been supportive of marriage equality, putting him in opposition to many party members, including the former Federal Leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Australia,

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

but putting him in support with the former Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

. In 2009, Mallard faced two accusations of misconduct and for breaching Council's code of conduct. The first alleged indiscretion related to debating and voting on a development application before Council from the hotelier George Thomas who had allegedly made a donation to support Mallard's re-election to Council. Using

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

Lee Rhiannon Lee Rhiannon (formerly O'Gorman, ''née'' Brown; born 30 May 1951) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales between July 2011 and August 2018. She was elected at the 2010 federal election, representing the Aus ...

, a Greens Member of

NSW 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 ...

, accused Mallard of a second indiscretion by receiving illegal donations through provision of rent by a third party during the 2008 local government election campaign. Mallard asked the matters be referred to the NSW Department of Local Government for investigation. The Department of Local Government investigation cleared Mallard of allegations that he breached the council's code of conduct. Following an earlier announcement that he would again run against Moore for the popularly elected position of Lord Mayor, in June 2012 Mallard announced that he would not contest the 2012 local government elections. In September 2012, Mallard was endorsed as the Liberal Party candidate for the

NSW 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 House ...

seat of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

at the

2012 by-election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

but was beaten by Moore-backed

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate

Alex Greenwich Alexander Hart Greenwich (born 28 November 1980) is the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Sydney since the 2012 Sydney by-election. He ran as an independent and was backed by his predecessor, indepen ...

. In June 2021 Mallard was elected as Government Whip in the NSW Legislative Council and Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and the Aerotropolis. In December 2021, Mallard was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Western Sydney.

New South Wales parliamentary career

Mallard was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council on the Liberal/ Nationals

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at the 2015 state election, endorsed as the seventh candidate. Mallard was involved in calling on the government to protect the Radiata Plateau in the Blue Mountains.

Personal

Mallard's early career was in marketing and advertising. In 1995 he took a career sabbatical and established a small business in horticulture with his brother in the inner city suburb of

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

. Mallard, who is gay, is in a same-sex relationship with

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

born Jesper Hansen. On 20 July 2012 it was reported that they would marry in a

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

in Copenhagen in 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mallard, Shayne 1964 births Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Gay politicians LGBT conservatism LGBT legislators in Australia Macquarie University alumni Living people Sydney City Councillors Politicians from Sydney 21st-century Australian politicians Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council