Eleni Petinos
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Eleni Marie Petinos is an Australian state politician in
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 ...
. She served as the Minister for Small Business and the Minister for Fair Trading in the Perrottet ministry from December 2021 until her Ministry was ceased on 31 July 2022 by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet after allegations of her mistreatment and bullying of staff came to light. Petinos 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 ...
as the member for Miranda 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 ...
at the
2015 New South Wales state election The 2015 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative ...
. Petinos is currently a member of
Mark Speakman Mark Raymond Speakman (born 6 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2011 New South Wales state election, 2011, representing Electoral district of Cronulla, Cronulla ...
's Shadow Ministry, serving as Shadow Minister for Finance, and Shadow Minister for Sport. Petinos graduated from 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 ...
with a bachelor of jurisprudence, bachelor of laws and a graduate diploma of legal practice. Before her election to parliament, Petinos was a tax lawyer, a member of the Liberal Party state executive and an adviser to Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. She was a member of the Liberal right faction when pre-selected, but switched to the moderates faction after the 2015 election, encouraged by her mentor, Sutherland Shire councillor Kent Johns. As a result, ahead of the next state election, she initially faced a preselection challenge supported by the right faction, which was not successful. Petinos was the chair of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Transport and Infrastructure between April 2017 and March 2019. She was a parliamentary secretary for transport and roads from April 2019 until December 2021. In December 2021, Petinos was sworn in as the Minister for Small Business and as the Minister for Fair Trading in the Perrottet ministry, serving as a minister for seven months prior to her dismissal. She denied engaging in bullying but apologised if her behaviour caused offence or discomfort, and indicated her intention to stay on in politics as a state member of parliament despite the controversy that led to her sacking. The claims made against her included that she had "relentlessly bullied" ministerial staff, calling some "retarded" and "stupid" and hyperbolically threatened to "kill" them. Media reports suggested the premier's decision was prompted by similar bullying complaints levelled against the then minister from within the public service. After Petinos' ousting, media reports suggested some government MP's thought the premier had acted too hastily in removing her, given the allegations against her were unproven and that she denied the claims. They suggested Petinos was a victim of the fact the government was under pressure over unrelated scandals and that she would ordinarily have been given greater protection. The Labor opposition contrasted the haste involved in Petinos' removal with the Premier's initial reluctance to take action against
Stuart Ayres Stuart Laurence Ayres (born 24 November 1980) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 19 June 2010 to 25 March 2023, representing the electorate of Electoral district of Penrith, Penrith as ...
. After her dismissal from the Ministry, claims emerged that the NSW Building Commissioner had resigned because of a "problematic" relationship with Petinos. The
New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...
is investigating the circumstances of then Minister Petinos meeting with a construction company which was employing former deputy premier
John Barilaro Giovanni Domenic Barilaro (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the 18th deputy premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales National Party, NSW National Party from 2016 to 2021. He was t ...
and had been the subject of stop-work orders made by the Building Commissioner. Petinos has denied suggestions she interfered with the issuing of the orders. It is anticipated the Commissioner's secret letter would be released as part of the Legislative Council examination of the issue. Petinos had earlier been involved in other controversies relating to personal conduct, including claims she had an affair with a Liberal parliamentary colleague
Matt Kean Matthew John Kean (born 16 September 1981) is a former Australian politician who is the Chair of the Climate Change Authority. Prior to this, he was the Treasurer of New South Wales in the second Perrottet ministry of New South Wales betwee ...
and had vomited in the back of then deputy premier
John Barilaro Giovanni Domenic Barilaro (; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the 18th deputy premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales National Party, NSW National Party from 2016 to 2021. He was t ...
's chauffeured government car after a rugby league state of origin match. She subsequently paid for the costs of cleaning the ministerial car.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petinos, Eleni Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian people of Greek descent Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians University of New South Wales alumni Australian lawyers 21st-century Australian women lawyers Ministers for better regulation and fair trading