Christopher John Downy (born 29 March 1955) is a former Australian politician. He was 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 ...

member for

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

in 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 ...

from 1988 to 1997, and Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing from 1993 to 1995.

Biograpgt

Downy was born on 29 March 1955, the eldest son of Gerald and Marie Downy. He was educated at Saint Patrick’s Christian Brothers College Sutherland. He attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, where he received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(Hons), and Sydney Teachers College, where he received a Diploma of Education. He was subsequently a secondary school teacher. He joined the

in 1974 and was active in local politics. In 1980, Downy was the Liberal candidate for the safe federal

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

seat of Hughes; he was unsuccessful. Downy was elected to Sutherland Shire Council in 1983, and in 1988 was selected as the Liberal candidate for the state seat of

. The seat replaced the abolished Woronora, and was contested by that seat's Labor member Maurie Keane, but Downy narrowly defeated him to win the seat. Downy was appointed Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing in 1993, but lost that position when Labor won office in 1995. He resigned his seat in 1997, prompting a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

that was won by Liberal candidate

Lorna Stone Lorna June Stone, (born 25 June 1938), is a former Australian politician. She was the Liberal Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Sutherland from 1997 to 1999. Stone was born Lorna Nicholson to parents Alfred and Erla. ...

. In 2012, Downy was elected state president of the NSW Liberal Party, succeeding Arthur Sinodinos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downy, Chris 1955 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly University of Sydney alumni