David Robert Harris (born 24 February 1966) is an Australian politician. He has served as the
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty,
Gaming and Racing,
Veterans
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field.
A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces.
A topic o ...
,
Medical Research
Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...
and
the Central Coast since April 2023. He has been a
Labor Party 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 ...
since 2015, representing the electorate of
Wyong
Wyong () is a town on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately South-South-West of Newcastle and North-North-East of the state capital Sydney. Established in , it is one of the two administrative centres fo ...
. He previously represented the same electorate from 2007 to 2011.
Personal life and early career
Harris is one of three children and grew up in
Greenacre in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. His parents later moved to the
New South Wales Central Coast.
Harris attended
Woy Woy
Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of the New South Wales state of Australia. The town is located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water and near the mouth of Brisbane Water at the Pacific Ocean, it is a popular holiday de ...
South Public School and Woy Woy High School, where became school captain.
In 1987, Harris joined the
Umina branch of the
Labor Party, eventually becoming the president of the
Wyong
Wyong () is a town on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately South-South-West of Newcastle and North-North-East of the state capital Sydney. Established in , it is one of the two administrative centres fo ...
branch, and then secretary of Dobell Federal Electoral Council.
Harris gained a Diploma of Teaching and began work in the public school system, starting his career at Griffith Public School in 1987. In the following year, he became the principal of a one-teacher school at
Merriwagga, and moved on to teach at
Hillston Central School. It was in Hillston that he met his wife Sherelle.
Harris and Sherelle have two daughters.
Harris later returned to the Central Coast, becoming principal at
Dooralong Public School and then deputy principal at
Northlakes Public School. Harris was later appointed principal at
Gwandalan Public School and then principal of
Kariong
Kariong () is a locality of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia west of Gosford along the Central Coast Highway. It is part of the local government area.
History
Kariong's first British settler was W.H. Parry in 1901. Th ...
Public School.
In 2006, Harris resigned as the principal to pursue a career in politics.
First term in Parliament (2007–2011)
He was elected to 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 ...
on 24 March 2007 as the member for
Wyong
Wyong () is a town on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately South-South-West of Newcastle and North-North-East of the state capital Sydney. Established in , it is one of the two administrative centres fo ...
. He was appointed as a member of the Staysafe Committee (Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety) and a member of the Standing Committee on Broadband in Rural and Regional Communities.
He was also deputy chair of the committee on the
Independent Commission Against Corruption and chair of the Natural Resource Management (Climate Change) Committee.
In 2009, he served for three months as Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast under the
Rees Government. In January 2010, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Minister for the Central Coast under the
Keneally Government. In September 2010, he was also appointed as Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Minister for Education and Training.
At the
2011 state election, Harris lost the seat of Wyong to his
Liberal opponent, local small businessman
Darren Webber. It was the first time the seat of Wyong had been held by any party other than Labor. Late in 2011, Harris was appointed as the new principal at Point Clare Public School, to begin in the new year.
Return to Parliament
In 2015, Harris resigned from Point Clare to run for re-election in Wyong. Harris regained the seat from
Darren Webber at the
2015 state election. Following this, he was appointed to the
Shadow Ministry of Luke Foley as Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, Small Business, Skills and Regional Development.
Following the resignation of
Linda Burney
Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian Labor Party (ALP) politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Barton from 2016 to 2025. She was the minister for Indigenous Australians from 2022 to July 2024. S ...
in 2016, Harris was appointed as Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. He retained the positions of Shadow Minister for the Central Coast and Regional Development but was succeeded as Shadow Minister for Skills by
Prue Car
Prue may refer to:
People
Given name
Prue is a feminine given name, sometimes a short form of Prudence
Prudence (, contracted from meaning "seeing ahead, sagacity") is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. ...
and Shadow Minister for Small Business by
Jenny Aitchison
Jennifer Kathleen Aitchison is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Roads (New South Wales), Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport in the Minns ministry since 2025. She previously served as Minister for Region ...
. Following the election of
Michael Daley
Michael John Daley (born 1 November 1965) is an Australian politician and has been the Attorney-General of New South Wales since 28 March 2023. He was previously the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from November 20 ...
as
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
, Harris was also appointed as Shadow Assistant Minister for Education.
In 2019, Harris was appointed to the
Shadow Ministry of Jodi McKay
The shadow ministry of Jodi McKay was the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), Labor opposition from July 2019 to May 2021, opposing the Second Berejiklian ministry, Berejiklian government in the Parliament of New South Wales. It was ...
as Shadow Minister for Regional Transport, the Central Coast and Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty. At the inception of the
Shadow Ministry of Chris Minns
The shadow ministry of Chris Minns was the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), NSW Labor shadow cabinet from 2021 to 2023. It opposed the Second Berejiklian ministry, Berejiklian and First Perrottet ministry, Perrottet governments in ...
, Harris retained the Central Coast and Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty portfolios and succeeded Aitchison as Shadow Minister for Jobs, Investment and Tourism. Aitchison succeeded Harris as Shadow Minister for Regional Transport.
Following the election of the
Minns Government at the
2023 state election, Harris was appointed as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, Minister for Gaming and Racing, Minister for Veterans, Minister for Medical Research and the Minister for the Central Coast.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, David
1966 births
Living people
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Australian schoolteachers
21st-century Australian politicians
People from Woy Woy
Ministers for aboriginal affairs and treaty