The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Robert James Webster (born 16 September 1951) is an Australian company director and grazier and a former

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 ...

parliamentarian.

Early life

Webster was born in

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and attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1963–1969), commencing as a preparatory school student in Wyvern House. From 1970 until his election to State parliament he was a grazier at Salisbury Downs, a property near Bigga.

Parliamentary career

Webster represented

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

for the

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in the

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Legislative Assembly from March 1984 until May 1991 when he was elected as a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

where he served until retiring from politics in 1995. During his parliamentary career he served as Minister for Administrative Services and Assistant Minister for Transport, Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Administrative Services, Minister for Planning, Minister for Energy, Minister for State Development and Minister for Tourism, and finally as Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing. While in Parliament, Webster was a member of the National Party but since 1996 has been a member of the

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Business career

He is a former Executive Director of the International Banks and Securities Association of Australia and is now a Director of Korn Ferry International and Chair of the Board at Endeavour Energy.

Community service

Between 1997 and 2004 he served a Chairman of the National Science & Technology Centre,

Questacon Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre is an interactive science communication facility in Canberra, Australia. It is a museum with more than 200 interactive exhibits related to science and technology. The National Science an ...

. He is currently chairman of

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

's Advisory Board. He is a former member of Newington College Council.

Honours and recognition

Webster was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

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for "significant service to the people and Parliament of New South Wales, and to business".

References

1951 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Members of the Order of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales People educated at Newington College Members of Newington College Council Politicians from Sydney Ministers for customer service and digital government Ministers for energy (New South Wales) {{Australia-National-politician-stub Ministers for families and communities