Andrew Constance
Constance at the Tallawong train yard in September 2017
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Bega
In office
22 March 2003 – 30 December 2021
Preceded byRussell Smith
Succeeded byMichael Holland
Ministerial positions
Minister for Transport and Roads
In office
2 April 2019 – 6 October 2021
PremierGladys Berejiklian
Dominic Perrottet
Preceded byhimself (as Minister for Transport and Infrastructure)
Succeeded byRob Stokes
Leader of the House[1]
In office
2 April 2019 – 8 May 2020
PremierGladys Berejiklian
Succeeded byMark Speakman
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure
In office
2 April 2015 – 23 March 2019
PremierMike Baird
Gladys Berejiklian
Preceded byGladys Berejiklian (as Minister for Transport)
Succeeded byhimself (as Minister for Transport and Roads)
Treasurer of New South Wales
In office
23 April 2014 – 2 April 2015
PremierMike Baird
Preceded byMike Baird
Succeeded byGladys Berejiklian
Minister for Industrial Relations
In office
6 May 2014 – 2 April 2015
PremierMike Baird
Preceded byMike Gallacher
Succeeded byGladys Berejiklian
Minister for Finance and Services
In office
2 August 2013 – 17 April 2014
PremierBarry O'Farrell
Preceded byGreg Pearce
Succeeded byDominic Perrottet
Minister for Ageing
Minister for Disability Services
In office
4 April 2011 – 2 August 2013
PremierBarry O'Farrell
Preceded byPeter Primrose
Succeeded byJohn Ajaka
Personal details
Born
Andrew James Constance

(1973-10-31) 31 October 1973
Political partyLiberal Party

Andrew James Constance (born 31 October 1973) is an Australian politician who represented Bega for the Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 2003 and December 2021.[2]

Constance served as the New South Wales Minister for Transport and Roads in the second Berejiklian ministry from April 2019 until October 2021.[3][4][5] Previously, he served as the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure from 2 April 2015 until 23 March 2019 in the second Baird and first Berejiklian governments;[6][7][8] as the Treasurer of New South Wales and the Minister for Industrial Relations between 2014 and 2015 in the first Baird government;[9][10] as the Minister for Ageing and Disability Services between 2011 and 2013; and as the Minister for Finance and Services, between 2013 and 2014, in the O'Farrell government.

Political career

State politics

At the time Constance was elected in 2003, he was aged 29 years, and he became the youngest member of the Parliament. Constance previously worked as a corporate affairs consultant representing large industry associations and multinationals in the Asia-Pacific region.[11] A former President of the Young Liberals, his family connections in the Bega area stem back to the 1860s when his great-great-grandfather, James Constance, drove a team of bullocks through the Bega Valley.[12]

Constance was appointed Minister for Ageing and Disability Services in 2011 and championed the person-centred reforms which were necessary steps towards the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Under Constance's stewardship, NSW became the first Australian state or territory to agree to the full funding of the scheme with the Commonwealth.

Constance was promoted to Minister for Finance and Services in 2013 after the sacking of Greg Pearce, with the portfolio of Ageing and Disability Services transferred to John Ajaka.[13][14]

Due to the resignation of Barry O'Farrell as Premier,[15] and the subsequent ministerial reshuffle by Mike Baird, the former Treasurer and new Liberal Leader,[9] in April 2014 Constance was appointed as Treasurer;[2][16][17] and his responsibilities expanded to include Industrial Relations less than one month later.[10] Constance handed down his first Budget on 17 June 2014.

Following the 2015 state election, Constance was appointed Minister for Transport and Infrastructure.[6][7] During Constance's tenure as minister, NSW was the first Australian state to legalise ridesharing companies including Uber.[18] Constance was also responsible for the Sydney Metro. He continued to be the Minister for Transport after Gladys Berejiklian became Premier in 2017. Following the 2019 state election, Constance was sworn in as the Minister for Transport and Roads in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019.[19]

On 10 March 2020, Constance announced his resignation from politics and will not contest the next state election, citing that recovery from the bushfires will take priority before announcing an effective date.[20]

Attempts to enter federal politics

On 5 May 2020, he announced that he would resign from the NSW Cabinet and seek Liberal Party preselection for the 2020 Eden-Monaro by-election.[21] However, within 24 hours he reversed what he called "a hasty decision".[22][23] A contributing factor behind Constance's reconsideration was an abusive text message which he received from then-Deputy Premier of New South Wales, John Barilaro, while Constance was deliberating running for the by-election; Barilaro's message convinced Constance that "politics was stuffed", and he decided not to run.[24] On 8 May, Constance was removed from his role as Leader of the House of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly "as punishment for his spectacular change of heart over quitting state politics".[25]

On 3 October 2021, he announced his intention to quit his state seat to seek Liberal Party preselection for the federal seat of Gilmore at the 2022 federal election [26][27] He announced he would resign on 26 November 2021, triggering a by-election for the seat of Bega.[28] However, he did not officially resign until 30 December 2021.[29] Constance was preselected as the Liberal candidate for Gilmore on 17 January 2022. At the subsequent election, Constance was narrowly defeated by incumbent MP Fiona Phillips of the Australian Labor Party.[30]

After the death of Senator Jim Molan in January 2023, Constance intended to run for the preselection to fill the Senate casual vacancy caused by Molan's death. Constance made a deal with sections of the Right faction whereby he, if elected, would resign after 18 months to run as the party's candidate for the seat of Gilmore at the next federal election for a second time. However, senior party sources found that many were unhappy with the idea of another resignation. He was endorsed by Berejiklian, Senator Marise Payne and her partner, former state Cabinet minister Stuart Ayres (who was the state member for Penrith until 2023).[31] He was ultimately defeated in the final vote to Maria Kovacic, with 243 votes compared to Kovacic's 287[32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Other Office Holders Parliament of New South Wales
  2. 1 2 "The Hon. Andrew James CONSTANCE, MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Government Notices (30)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 1088-1090. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "Premier announces new Cabinet" (Press release). Premier of New South Wales. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. ↑ Han, Sophie (2 April 2019). "Berejiklian's new massive cabinet sworn in amid peals of laughter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. 1 2 Hasham, Nicole (3 April 2015). "Premier Mike Baird's new NSW cabinet sworn in: Gladys Berejiklian and Gabrielle Upton first female Treasurer and Attorney-General". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 Coultan, Mark (1 April 2015). "Mike Baird reveals NSW cabinet". The Australian. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Refreshed NSW cabinet sworn in". Australia: Sky News. AAP. 30 January 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  9. 1 2 Nicholls, Sean (22 April 2014). "Mike Baird's cabinet reshuffle a preparation for next election". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  10. 1 2 Hasham, Nicole (6 May 2014). "Stuart Ayres shines on first day as Police Minister". The Age. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Green, Antony (4 April 2011). "Bega". NSW Votes 2011. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  12. ↑ "Mr Andrew Constance, MP – Maiden Speech" (PDF). Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 21 May 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 April 2019.
  13. ↑ Nicholls, Sean (1 August 2013). "Greg Pearce sacked over conflict of interest". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  14. ↑ Clennell, Andrew (1 August 2013). "Premier Barry O'Farrell sacks finance minister Greg Pearce". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "Barry O'Farrell quits as NSW Premier over memory fail". The Australian. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "Mike Baird's NSW cabinet". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Smyth, Ben (22 April 2014). "Andrew Constance named Treasurer in NSW cabinet reshuffle". Bay Post. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "UberX legalised in NSW, taxi drivers to be compensated". ABC News. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Sas, Nick (31 March 2019). "Gladys Berejiklian says Liberal Party has no women problem as re-elected NSW Premier shuffles Cabinet". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  20. ↑ Bega MP Andrew Constance says he will quit politics after bushfire recovery Sydney Morning Herald 30 March 2020
  21. ↑ "Andrew Constance will seek pre-selection to run in Eden-Monaro by-election". ABC News. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "Andrew Constance expected to pull out of Eden-Monaro race". Sky News Australia. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  23. ↑ Smith, Alexandra (6 May 2020). "Andrew Constance to withdraw from Eden-Monaro byelection". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "'Bugger this for a joke': Constance reveals Barilaro slur played role in by-election U-turn". ABC News. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  25. ↑ Smith, Alexandra (7 May 2020). "NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance stripped of senior role". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  26. ↑ Raby, Tom (3 October 2021). "Andrew Constance set to resign from NSW parliament for federal tilt". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  27. ↑ "NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance quits state politics for federal tilt". ABC News. 2 October 2021.
  28. ↑ "Liberal pre-selection nominations open for outgoing Bega MP Andrew Constance's seat". ABC News. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  29. ↑ "Berejiklian formally resigns but Holsworthy byelection still uncertain". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  30. ↑ Bannister, Maeve (17 January 2022). "Former NSW MP runs for federal parliament". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  31. ↑ Galloway, Anthony (27 May 2023). "Maria Kovacic beats Andrew Constance to take vacant Liberal Senate seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  32. ↑ "Ex-NSW Liberal president preselected for Senate seat, defeating Andrew Constance". 27 May 2023. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023 – via www.abc.net.au.
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