Karyn Lesley Paluzzano (born 6 May 1960) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She was a Labor Party 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 ...

from 2003 to 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith. In September 2012 Paluzzano was sentenced to twelve months'

home detention In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, Electronic monitoring in the United States, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their Hous ...

following a guilty plea for falsely claiming parliamentary allowances, as well as giving false and misleading evidence to an anti-corruption inquiry.

Private life

Paluzzano has lived in Penrith and Lower Blue Mountains for all her life. She was educated at Glenbrook and Lapstone Primary Schools and Nepean High School. Paluzzano was awarded a Master of Education by

Nepean College of Advanced Education Nepean College of Advanced Education was an Australian higher education institution (College of Advanced Education) from 1973 to 1989. It was formed on 5 November 1973 by the amalgamation of the Westmead Teachers' College, which had opened in 196 ...

(now

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

), a Bachelor of Education and Diploma of Teaching (Distinction), and an Associate Diploma in Medical Radiography. Paluzzano is married to Robert Paluzzano and with him has three children.

Early career

Paluzzano was initially a

radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...

and then became a teacher and university lecturer. During 1995 to 2002, Paluzzano was a visiting lecturer at 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 ...

, the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, and the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

. Paluzzano has also worked as a Senior Education Officer Consultant for the NSW Department of School Education. In 1999, Paluzzano was elected to

Penrith City Council The City of Penrith is a local government area in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The seat of the city is located in Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith, located about west of Sydney's Sydney central business district, central business ...

as a Councillor in the South Ward and remained a councilor until 2004.

New South Wales state politics

Following the retirement of

Faye Lo Po' Faye Lo Po' (born 1 February 1936) is a former Australian politician, serving as member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the electorate of Penrith between 1991 and 2003. Political career A longtime member of the Labor Party, Lo ...

, Paluzzano won endorsement and then election for the seat of Penrith at the 2003 NSW state election, after being forced to preferences. Paluzzano was re-elected at the 2007 state election, again on preferences, with a slightly increased majority. In 2008, Paluzzano was appointed Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Minister for Education and Training by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Nathan Rees Nathan Rees () (born 12 February 1968) is a former Australian politician who served as the 41st Premier of New South Wales and parliamentary leader of the New South Wales division of the Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009. Rees wa ...

. In December 2009, Timothy Horan, an Electorate Officer working for Paluzzano, alleged to the clerk of the Legislative Assembly that Paluzzano had illegally used public money to fund her re-election campaign. At first she denied the accusation at a preliminary Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing on 16 April 2010. At a subsequent ICAC hearing on 5 May, Paluzzano admitted to falsely signing employee pay forms and using her electoral mail allowance for political purposes. On 4 May 2010, Paluzzano stepped down as Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Training. On 7 May, two days after Paluzzano admitted to rorting her electoral mail allowance and lying about it, Premier

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...

directed Labor's state secretary to suspend Paluzzano's party membership. Paluzzano resigned from the legislature hours later. Her resignation came seven years and one day after her election to state parliament, making her eligible for a parliamentary pension. Her resignation triggered a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for her seat, which saw it resoundingly lost to

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate

Stuart Ayres Stuart Laurence Ayres (born 24 November 1980) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 19 June 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith as a member of the Liberal Party. He also se ...

on a swing of over 25 per cent. At the time, it was the largest two-party swing against a sitting government in New South Wales history. The commission, after completing its inquiry in July 2010, recommended that criminal changes be laid against Paluzzano. ICAC asked the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

to consider charging Paluzzano over a range of offences, including misconduct in public office, obtaining money for one of her staff members, obtaining a "valuable thing" for herself and misleading corruption investigators. On 7 June 2012 Paluzzano pleaded guilty to four charges relating to falsely claiming parliamentary payments between 2006 and 2007, as well as giving misleading evidence to the corruption watchdog during the 2010 inquiry. On 6 September 2012, Paluzzano was sentenced to a minimum of twelve months' home detention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paluzzano, Karyn Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1960 births Living people Politicians from Sydney Place of birth missing (living people) Western Sydney University alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian politicians convicted of fraud Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly