The Honourable
Mike Gallacher
Minister for Police and Emergency Services
In office
3 April 2011 – 2 May 2014
PremierBarry O'Farrell; Mike Baird
Preceded byMichael Daley (as Minister for Police)
Steve Whan (as Minister for Emergency Services)
Succeeded byStuart Ayres
Minister for the Central Coast
In office
9 December 2013 – 2 May 2014
PremierBarry O'Farrell; Mike Baird
Preceded byChris Hartcher
Succeeded byRob Stokes
Minister for Industrial Relations
In office
23 April 2014 – 2 May 2014
PremierMike Baird
Preceded byvacant
Succeeded byAndrew Constance
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office
17 April 1996 – 6 April 2017
Preceded byStephen Mutch
Personal details
Born (1961-09-27) 27 September 1961
Paisley, Scotland, United Kingdom
Political partyIndependent (from 2014)
Liberal (to 2014)
SpouseJudy Gallacher
Alma materUniversity of New England

Michael Joseph Gallacher (born 27 September 1961 in Paisley, Scotland), an Australian politician, was the Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the O'Farrell government and Baird government from 2011 to 2014; the Minister for the Central Coast from December 2013 to May 2014; and the Minister for Industrial Relations in the Baird government from April to May 2014.[1] Gallacher has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1996.[2] He was the Minister for the Hunter between 2011 and 2014.

In May 2014 Gallacher resigned as Minister after being named in the Independent Commission Against Corruption for alleged involvement in a corrupt scheme to receive illegal political donations.[3] He resigned from parliament in April 2017.[4]

Early life and background

Gallacher was born in Paisley, Scotland, and migrated with his parents to Australia as a young child. He attended school at Lethbridge Park and Shalvey before completing his studies at Randwick Boys High School.

He joined the NSW Police Force in 1980 and served as an officer in general duties, highway patrol, internal police investigations, criminal investigations and special operations. He completed a Bachelor of Professional Studies through the University of New England in 1998. From 1991 to 1994, Gallacher was a delegate to the New South Wales Police Association. He was a senior lecturer in the Police Service's Professional Responsibility Command and qualified for the Police Service Medal.[2]

Gallacher has lived and worked on the Central Coast for over 25 years. He is actively involved in local surf life saving and is also a keen horseman.[5]

Although most members of Gallacher's family had always supported the ALP, Gallacher himself joined the Liberal Party. He credited Labor Attorney-General Frank Walker with having accidentally achieved this political conversion:

"I always say it was Frank Walker, when he was Labor Attorney-General in the Wran government, who turned me into a Liberal. He had an approach to the criminal justice system which favoured the rights of offenders and I want to support the victims of crime and the police who uphold the law." [6]

However despite this criticism of Walker and different policy positions from him, Gallacher and Walker did eventually associate on friendly terms.[7]

Political career

In 1996 Gallacher was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, filling a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Stephen Mutch.[8]

Gallacher had won preselection for the vacancy in a field of ten candidates.[9] The other candidates included former Liberal minister Anne Cohen who had lost her lower house seat at the 1995 election and Catherine Cusack who would eventually be elected to the Legislative Council in 2003.

He first faced election at the 2003 state election and was re-elected. In 2005, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Police in the New South Wales Shadow Cabinet and was appointed the portfolio of Shadow Minister for the Hunter in April 2007.

Following the 2011 state election which saw the O'Farrell government come to power, on 3 April 2011 Gallacher was appointed Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Hunter, and Vice-President of the Executive Council, Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council. In December 2013 Gallacher took on the additional responsibilities as Minister for the Central Coast following the resignation of the incumbent minister, Chris Hartcher. Due to the resignation of Barry O'Farrell as Premier,[10] and the subsequent ministerial reshuffle by Mike Baird, the new Liberal Leader,[1] in April 2014 in addition to his existing responsibilities as a minister, Gallacher was appointed as the Minister for Industrial Relations. The Hunter regional portfolio was assigned to Gladys Berejiklian.[2][11]

On 2 May 2014, the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard allegations that Gallacher was involved with Chris Hartcher in the establishment of a business called Eightbyfive which sought to conceal prohibited donations to the Liberal Party from a development company owned by Nathan Tinkler. Later that day, Premier Mike Baird announced that Gallacher had resigned from Cabinet.[12][13] He sat on the crossbench.[14] Prior to his ministerial resignation, it had been reported that Gallacher was interested in moving to the Legislative Assembly with the intent of becoming Liberal Leader one day.[15] Gallacher resigned as an MP in April 2017 to become to CEO of Ports Australia.[16] In October 2019, the Inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption appeared at the NSW Parliament's ICAC Oversight Committee and stated that there had been no finding of corrupt conduct against Gallacher, while calling his treatment "wrong and unfair."[17][18]

References

  1. 1 2 Nicholls, Sean (22 April 2014). "Mike Baird's cabinet reshuffle a preparation for next election". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Hon. Michael Joseph Gallacher, BProf St (1961-)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ↑ Howden, Saffron (2 May 2014). "Mike Gallacher had to resign over ICAC claim, Mike Baird says". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Nicholls, Sean; Mitchell, Georgina (6 April 2017). "Former NSW police minister Mike Gallacher resigns from parliament". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "About Mike Gallacher". State Liberals. Liberal Party of Australia. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "My life as a 'dog': MP recalls his Serpico role". 17 April 2005.
  7. ↑ https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/former-labor-politician-and-aussie-battler-frank-walker-farewelled/news-story/0485f919e0dcec5b33d0696568020dff?sv=f3cf631d4eca38b9e256b107e33ff131
  8. ↑ "30. Vacant seats in the Legislative Council". Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 17 April 1996. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "In Brief". Canberra Times (Act : 1926 - 1995). 29 July 1995. p. 7. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  10. ↑ "Barry O'Farrell quits as NSW Premier over memory fail". The Australian. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Mike Baird's NSW cabinet". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "ICAC: NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher resigns over corruption watchdog probe". ABC News. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Whitbourn, Michaela; Nicholls, Sean (2 May 2014). "Mike Gallacher had to resign over ICAC claim, Mike Baird says". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Former Police Minister Michael Gallacher orchestrated illegal donations arrangement, ICAC hears".
  15. ↑ "NSW coalition MPs on their way out". The Australian. 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014.
  16. ↑ Nicholls, Sean; Mitchell, Georgina (6 April 2017). "Former NSW police minister Mike Gallacher resigns from parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  17. ↑ O’Dea, Jonathan (23 June 2020). "Submission to the Joint Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)'s Inquiry into the reputational impact on an individual being adversely named in the ICAC's investigations" (PDF). NSW Legislative Assembly. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "Allegations of corruption found to be unwarranted - Central Coast News". Central Coast Community News. 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.

 

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