Christopher Stewart Patterson (born 8 December 1971), an Australian politician, was a 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 House ...

representing Camden for 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. For example, while the political systems ...

from

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

to 2019.

Early life and background

Patterson has lived in the Camden area for over 25 years. A former

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

teacher, he later managed the Merino Tavern, and was elected to Camden Council in 2000. He did not seek re-election in 2004; stood again at a by-election in 2005; and became mayor in 2006. Patterson generated significant public profile between 2007 and 2009 as Camden Council rejected an application from the Quranic Society seeking Council's permission to develop land for the construction of a four-day Islamic school within the local government area. The Society took Camden Council to the

New South Wales Land and Environment Court The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales is a court within the Australian court hierarchy established pursuant to the to hear environmental, development, building and planning disputes. The Court's jurisdiction, confined to the state o ...

, and sought to have Council's ruling overturned. The Court rejected the Society's application, amidst race and religion-based arguments. Patterson, as mayor, was the vocal spokesperson defending Council's actions.

Political career

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Patterson successfully sought Liberal Party pre-selection for Camden and ran against Labor's Geoff Corrigan, but was defeated. On 21 October 2010, the Liberal Party announced that Patterson was endorsed as the party's candidate for Camden ahead of the 2011 State election. Patterson was elected with a swing of 21.9 points and won the seat with 68.9 per cent of the

two-party A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

vote. His main opponent was Corrigan, representing Labor.

References

Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Living people 1971 births 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub