Mark Raymond Kersten (born 1950) is a former Australian politician. He was a National Party 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 the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in t ...

from 1995 to 1999.

Early life and career

Kersten was born in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. I ...

in New South Wales.

Early career

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

, having been president of the

Amalgamated Metal Workers Union The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing s ...

from 1985 to 1986. He was also chairman of

Neighbourhood Watch Neighbourhood Watch in the United Kingdom is the largest voluntary crime prevention movement covering England and Wales with upwards of 2.3 million household members. The charity brings neighbors together to create strong, friendly and active comm ...

1986–87, an executive member of the

Murray Darling Association Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian wh ...

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 National Party'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 manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian whole ...

. 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