Sandra Christine Nori (born 16 June 1953) 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 and presently a company director and Member of

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

Council. Nori was a member of 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 ...

representing the electoral districts of McKell (1988–1991) and

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

(1991–2007) for the Labor Party. She served in a range of ministerial portfolios between 1999 and 2007. Since leaving politics, Nori has been appointed to a number of roles as a non-executive director.

Early years and background

Nori was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

to Italian parents. She was educated at Petersham Girls High School and

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econo ...

. Nori was formerly married to

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

John Faulkner John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments. After his election to ...

and together they have two children.

Parliamentary career

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Nori represented two electorates successively: the newly created electorate of McKell between 1988 and 1991 (which was abolished at the 1991 state election; and the newly created electorate of Port Jackson between 1991 and 2007 (which was again abolished at the 2007 state election). In the battle for re-election as the Member for McKell at the 1988 state election, Nori defeated

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate,

Frank Sartor Francesco Ernest Sartor (born 9 November 1951) is an Australian former politician who served as New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and 2011. He wa ...

. Sartor went on to join the Labor Party, represent the electorate of Rockdale, and become a senior Labor minister. She was Minister for Small Business from April 1999 to April 2003, and was Minister for Tourism (later Tourism and Sport and Recreation) from April 1999 and Minister for Women from 2002 until her retirement from parliament in March 2007.

Personal life

In the 1990s Nori was in a personal relationship with Paul Gibson, who was at that time Labor member for Londonderry. In 2007 it was alleged that Gibson had assaulted her. A subsequent police investigation found insufficient evidence to lay charges.

Career after leaving New South Wales parliament

In 2008, Nori was appointed to the Council of

and also serves on the boards of the NSW TAFE Commission, Domain Resorts and Residences, and Komosion, a

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

and website publishing software company. Nori is also a Member of the Board of Advisors of th
Global Panel Foundation
a non-government organisation that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world. Sandra was appointed in 2011 to the National Board of the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award - Australia and was until retiring in 2021, its National Deputy Chair.

Honours

*Silver Distinguished Service Medal, The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award - Australia (2017) recognising her substantial services to youth, especially regional and disadvantaged young Australians. *Gold Distinguished Service Medal, The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award – Australia (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nori, Sandra Christine Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1953 births Living people Australian politicians of Italian descent Labor Left politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Women's ministers of Australia University of Sydney alumni