Andrew Humpherson (born 15 August 1960) is a former Australian politician, elected as 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 ...

for Davidson from 1992–2007. He has since pursued a career in public affairs overseeing the Government and Public Affairs Division of

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is a statutory body of the Australian Government that is responsible for nuclear research and the production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. It was established in Apr ...

and as Chief of Staff to the Energy and Resources Minister,

Chris Hartcher Christopher Peter Hartcher (born 21 December 1946) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2015, representing the electorates of Gosford (1988–2007) and Terrigal (2007–2015). He ...

from 2011 to 2014. He is currently a Director of

Barton Deakin Barton Deakin is an Australian and New Zealand government relations and lobbying firm. The firm is openly partisan and works primarily with Coalition governments and oppositions in Australia and the National Party in New Zealand. It employs staf ...

, a Liberal-aligned lobbying firm founded by his former parliamentary colleague, Peter Collins.

Early life

Humpherson was born in the United Kingdom in 1960. His family moved to Australia in 1970 and he was educated at Davidson High School where he became a member of the Student Representative Council and the Warringah Youth Council. He attended the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

where he graduated with honours in the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical). Between 1986 and 1992 he was employed as an engineer and also a Territory Manager for

Shell Australia Shell Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Shell. Shell has operated in Australia since 1901, initially delivering bulk fuel into Australia, then establishing storage and distribution terminals, oil refineries, and a network of service sta ...

. Humpherson entered politics on 14 March 1987 as an independent Councillor on Warringah Shire Council and was Deputy Shire President from 1991–1992 until he resigned on 30 May 1992, following his election to state parliament.

Political career

He was elected into the

for the seat of Davidson, at a May 1992 by-election brought on by the resignation of former Education Minister and Liberal-turned-independent member

Terry Metherell Terry Alan Metherell (born 9 January 1947) is an Australian former politician who represented the Electoral district of Davidson in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premie ...

, who resigned to take up a public service appointment offered by the Greiner government. The Independent Commission Against Corruption undertook an investigation into the appointment amid allegations that this amounted to a corrupt attempt to have Davidson return to the Liberal Party, which had lost its parliamentary majority at the 1991 election. The independents who held the balance of power subsequently forced Greiner's resignation as Premier, but ICAC was found to have exceeded its jurisdiction by the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

. However Davidson returned to the Liberals, with Humpherson easily winning the by-election ahead of 14 other candidates, despite a 16.1 per cent swing against the Liberal Party. As a backbencher, Humpherson served in various Parliamentary committees, until in 2000 when he was appointed as a Shadow Minister under Opposition Leader

Kerry Chikarovski Kerry Anne Chikarovski (née Bartels; 4 April 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales and Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002, the first woman to hold the post. Early li ...

. He held various shadow portfolios including Housing and Corrective Services (2000–2002), Planning and Environment (2002–2003), Justice (2003–2006), Community Services (2005–2006) and Emergency Services (2003–2007). Humpherson was narrowly defeated in a preselection battle before the 2007 election in favour of insurance executive, Jonathan O'Dea. Humpherson had cross-factional backing among many delegates, but attracted controversy in local branches after reportedly suggesting party members to quit branches under O'Dea's control, thereby reducing their voting power, a practice known as 'branch stripping'. Despite having support of the

Party Leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

Peter Debnam Peter John Debnam (born 21 April 1954), is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Vaucluse between 1994 and 2011. Debnam is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party ...

, Humpherson lost the vote 52 votes to 54 and he retired from parliament.

Later career

In March 2007, Humpherson was appointed to the newly created position of general manager of Government and Public Affairs at the

(ANSTO) and was a member of the management committee. Humpherson left ANSTO in late 2010 to establish his own government relations consultancy, Waratah Advisory, in anticipation of an expected Liberal win at the March 2011 NSW election and accepted a position as Chief of Staff to the newly appointed Resources and Energy Minister,

. In May 2012, Humpherson was accused by members of the state parliamentary opposition for continuing to be listed as the main contact for Waratah Advisory, with calls for his resignation. He nevertheless continued in this role until the resignation of Hartcher following a raid by corruption authorities in December 2013. Humpherson gained further attention when he took up a consulting role with the NSW Minerals Council two months after Hartcher's resignation, an action against a 2010 recommendation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that former staff of ministers and parliamentary secretaries be banned for a year from lobbying activity "relating to any matter that they had official dealings within their last 12 months in office". Since 2015 he has been a Director of

, a Liberal-aligned lobbying firm founded by his former parliamentary colleague, Peter Collins.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humpherson, Andrew Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales New South Wales local councillors Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1960 births People educated at Davidson High School University of New South Wales alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Australian lobbyists