Trevor John Khan (born 12 October 1957) is an Australian magistrate and former politician who served as a Nationals 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 ...

between 24 March 2007 and 6 January 2022, including for a time as Deputy President and Chair of Committees.

Background and early career

Khan attended Illawarra Grammar School in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

from 1962 to 1975. While attending school, his teachers were able to identify that he had

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. Khan was put through a special reading program at that school and was able to leave school with a Higher School Certificate in 1975. After school, he was employed as a Personnel Officer and was also an Industrial Relations Officer for

Australian Paper Manufacturers Amcor plc is a global packaging company. It develops and produces flexible packaging, rigid containers, specialty cartons, closures and services for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal-care, and other products. The ...

. He attended the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

and completed a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws from that university. He was subsequently admitted as a lawyer of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

in 1985. Khan moved to Tamworth in 1985, where he practised as a lawyer with principally criminal and family law practice areas. Having become an Accredited Special Advocate, Khan was well known on the court circuit of north-western New South Wales. He became a partner in Egan Murphy solicitors 1990, a role he retained until his election to Parliament. As a lawyer, he was a member of the Family Issues Committee of the New South Wales Law Society.

Political career

In 2004, he unsuccessfully stood as the Nationals candidate in the regional NSW seat of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

in the

Australian federal election Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar princ ...

. Khan was number eight on the joint Liberal/National election ticket for the

2007 New South Wales state election The 2007 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday, 24 March 2007. The entire Legislative Assembly and half of the Legislative Council was up for election. The Labor Party led by Morris Iemma won a fourth four-year term against the ...

, and having been elected to the Legislative Council, he commenced his first term as a Member of NSW Parliament in March 2007. He was last of the twenty one members to be elected at that election. He has held several roles on Parliamentary Committees, including being the Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Issues, Chair of the Legislative Council's Privileges Committee, Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral matters, and has sat as a Member of the Joint Standing Committee on the ICAC, the Committee on the Ombudsman, the Law Enforcement Commission and the Crime Commission, and the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. Khan was also a Member of the NSW Parliamentary Working Group on Marriage Equality which introduced the Same-Sex Marriage Bill 2013 into the Legislative Council, and served as a Member of the Select Committee on the Partial Defence of Provocation which resulted in amendments to the law of provocation in NSW including the abolition of the homosexual advance defence. Khan was re-elected to the Parliament of NSW at the 2015 NSW state election, and held the office of 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. Khan was a Member of the NSW Parliamentary Working Group on Assisted Dying which introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 into the Legislative Council. Khan resigned from the Legislative Council on 6 January 2022.

Appointment as magistrate

Three weeks after his resignation from the Legislative Council, Khan was appointed as a magistrate on the

Local Court of New South Wales The Local Court of New South Wales is the lowest court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. Formerly known as the Court of Petty Sessions and the Magistrates Court, there are more than 160 branches across New Sou ...

in Campbelltown, taking office from 3 February 2022. His appointment was praised by government and independent members of parliament.

Personal life

Khan's grandfather, Fazee Gulum Mohammed Khan, was a Muslim immigrant born in the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

region of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

who arrived in Australia in the 1890s. Regarding his early family members, Khan remarked that they "faced a range of challenges... The challenges they faced were not

Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

Right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

, they were the challenges of ignorance and fear." He is married to Elizabeth (Libby) and has two children.

References

External links

TrevorKhan.com.au
– Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Trevor Australian people of Punjabi descent Australian magistrates National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Living people 1957 births University of New South Wales Law School alumni People from Wollongong 21st-century Australian politicians Chairman of Committees of the New South Wales Legislative Council Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian politicians of Asian descent Australian politicians of Indian descent