Rodney John Roberts is an Australian politician serving as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

in the

NSW Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

. He was elected to 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 ...

on 23 March 2019 as a member of One Nation and currently serves as the Deputy President and Chair of Committees.

Background and early career

Prior to entering

, Roberts was a Detective Sergeant with the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands ...

for approximately 20 years. He worked in specialist areas such as the Drug Squad, Armed Hold Up Squad, and the Consorting Squad. He was also a Senior Lecturer at the Police Academy on the Detectives Training Course. After retiring from the NSW Police Force, Roberts spent approximately 10 years as a licensed real estate agent and auctioneer practising in the

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

area.

Political career

Roberts was elected to the Legislative Council at the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

along with his One Nation parliamentary colleague

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...

. In June 2020 Roberts was elected Assistant President of the Legislative Council. He has held several roles on Parliamentary Committees including as a Member of the Joint Standing Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption

CAC CAC may refer to: Arts * California Arts Council, an agency for advancing California through the arts and creativity * Campbelltown Arts Centre, multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre south-west of Sydney, Australia * Comics Arts Conference ...

Member of the Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Member of the Procedure Committee, and Deputy Chair of the Select Committee on the Proposal to Raise the Warragamba Dam Wall. In May 2023 Roberts was elected Deputy President and Chair of Committees of the Legislative Council, deputising for the President of the Legislative Council and chairing the 'Committee of the Whole' process in the Legislative Council chamber. He also currently sits on the Standing Committee on Law and Justice, Selection of Bills Committee, Procedure Committee, and Privileges Committee. In August 2023, federal One Nation leader

Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australia, Australian politician who is the founder and leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has re ...

removed Latham as leader of the NSW branch of the party. Roberts supported Latham against Hanson in the ensuing dispute, claiming that Hanson's decision to appoint

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

Steve Mav as NSW party treasurer was misguided.

Community involvement

In 2015 Rod Roberts represented Australia in the World Duathlon Championships. In his spare time Rod Roberts enjoys helping out as a

soigneur A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important in road bicycle racing, whic ...

to the NSW based GPM Stulz Cycling Team that competes in the National Road Series.

References

Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council One Nation members of the Parliament of New South Wales Pauline Hanson's One Nation politicians People from Goulburn Australian police officers Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-politician-stub