Bruce Notley-Smith

Bruce Neville Notley-Smith (born 17 January 1964[1]), is an Australian politician and former Mayor of the City of Randwick, and was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Coogee for the Liberal Party from 26 March 2011 to 23 March 2019.[2][3]

Bruce Notley-Smith
Notley-Smith at a 2012 Sydney Mardi Gras press conference
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Coogee
In office 26 March 2011 – 23 March 2019
Preceded by	Paul Pearce
Succeeded by	Marjorie O'Neill
77th Mayor of Randwick
In office 18 September 2007 – 29 September 2009
Deputy	Murray Matson Margaret Woodsmith
Preceded by	Paul Tracey
Succeeded by	John Procopiadis
Councillor of the Randwick City Council for East Ward
In office 1 July 2000 – 8 September 2012
Personal details
Born	Bruce Neville Notley-Smith 17 January 1964[1]
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party
Domestic partner	Paul McCormack
Occupation	Small business owner
Website	notleysmith.com

Early years and background

Notley-Smith grew up in Coogee, where he attended Coogee Public School, then Randwick Boys High School, and Randwick TAFE.[4] He commenced working in industrial first aid and as an officer in the NSW Ambulance Service, before running his own contract cleaning business.[5][6]

Notley-Smith's maternal grandfather, Allen Peisley, served 42 years with New South Wales Railways and was elected to Griffith City Council in 1949 representing the Labor Party. Notley-Smith is descended from John Peisley, the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Orange from 1860 to 1862.[7]

Political career

Notley-Smith first entered politics when he unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate for Randwick City Council in 1995.[7] He was subsequently elected in 2000 representing the East Ward on Randwick Council. Notley-Smith became Deputy Mayor from 2004 to 2005 and then subsequently Mayor of Randwick in 2007, a role which he served in for two years.[5] In 2009, he stood down as Mayor and commenced working in the office of Malcolm Turnbull MP, whilst remaining the Liberal Councillor for East Ward. In 2008 he declared his intention to run for the state seat of Coogee at the 2011 state election.[8]

At the 2011 NSW state election, Notley-Smith was elected and received a swing of 11.4 points in the traditionally strong Labor seat, winning 58.2 per cent of the two-party vote.[6] Notley-Smith's main competitor was the incumbent, Paul Pearce, a former Mayor of Waverley City Council, who had held he seat since 2003.[3] Notley-Smith retained the seat at the 2015 state election, winning 52.9 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.[9] Following the 2019 state election Notley-Smith conceded defeat to Labor's Marjorie O'Neill[10] following a swing of 4.7 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.[11]

Personal life

Notley-Smith and his partner, Paul McCormack, have been in a same-sex relationship since 1990.[12][13] Notley-Smith was the first openly gay member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly,[1] and worked to expunge the criminal records of gay men convicted under historical laws.[14]

References

1. Tovey, Josephine (12 March 2011). "Liberals challenge Greens for the gay vote". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
2. "Mr Bruce Neville NOTLEY-SMITH, MP". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
3. Rice, Margaret (26 March 2011). "Notley-Smith takes Coogee". Wentworth Courier. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
4. "Bruce Notley-Smith". Liberal for Coogee. Liberal Party of Australia (NSW). 2011. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
5. "About me". Liberal for Coogee. Bruce Notley-Smith. 2011. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
6. Green, Antony (4 April 2011). "Coogee". NSW Votes 2011. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
7. "Bruce Notley-Smith – Inaugural Speech" (PDF). Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
8. Moncrieff-Hill, Nick (20 October 2009). "Randwick councillor Bruce Notley-Smith to work with Malcolm Turnbull". Southern Courier. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
9. "State Electoral District of Coogee: Distribution of Preferences". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
10. Narunsky, Gareth (31 March 2019). "New Coogee MP Marjorie O'Neill lauds community". Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
11. "State Electoral District of Coogee". NSW State Election 2019. New South Wales Electoral Commission. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
12. "Gays line up for election". Star Observer. Australia. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
13. Akersten, Matt (27 March 2011). "Pink win in NSW's blue landslide". Same Same. The Sound Alliance. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
14. Busby, Cec (16 October 2014). "BILL TO EXPUNGE HISTORICAL GAY SEX CONVICTIONS PASSES NSW LOWER HOUSE". Gay News Network. Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.