Mark Raymond Kersten (born 1950) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician. He was a

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

member of 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 ...

from 1995 to 1999.

Early life and career

Kersten was born in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

in New South Wales.

Early career

Kersten worked as a signwriter and painter from 1966 to 1995. Unlike many

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

politicians, he had a background in the

union movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the ...

, having been president of the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union from 1985 to 1986. He was also chairman of

Neighbourhood Watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

1986–87, an executive member of the Murray Darling Association 1992–95, and chairman of the Broken Hill Proud Association 1993–94. In 1993, he was also made chairman of the Far West Regional Development Board, a position he held until 1995.

Political career

At the 1995 state election, he was selected as the

's candidate for the seat of

. He was defeated by sitting

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 ...

member Bill Beckroge, but shortly afterward, he was appointed to the

after the retirement of Robert Webster. In 1999 he retired from the Council in order to contest the lower house seat of Murray-Darling, a notional National seat created from large parts of the abolished electorates of Broken Hill and

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

. Kersten was defeated by Labor candidate Peter Black, and has not returned to politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kersten, Mark 1950 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council