Catherine Cusack

Catherine Eileen Cusack (born 26 October 1963) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, representing the Liberal Party. She was first elected as an opposition member on 22 March 2003 and was re-elected in 2011 and 2019 when her party won government. Biography In her inaugural parliamentary speech, Cusack identified herself as the great-granddaughter of a former Labor politician, John Cusack. She grew up near Yass in southern New South Wales, daughter of Greg Cusack (born 1930), a former Australian motor racing and motor rally champion. She joined the Young Liberals while studying economics at Sydney University and was elected their first female president in 1985. Cusack worked for Greiner government minister Virginia Chadwick in the Community Services and Education portfolios. She left in 1992 to work in the private sector, moving to the NSW Far North Coast in 2000 following the appointment of her husband to the Northern Rivers Area Health Service. In 1995 she sought preselection to fill the Legislative Council vacancy caused by the resignation of Stephen Mutch but was defeated by Mike Gallacher. Parliamentary career In 2003, then-Liberal leader John Brogden appointed her to Shadow Cabinet in the Juvenile Justice and Women's portfolios. She later served as Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability. When her party won government at the 2011 election, she was removed from the frontbench by premier Barry O'Farrell, allegedly for having alienated the Shooters and Fishers Party by saying she would not allow hunting in national parks.