Member of the Legislative Council
John Hatzistergos has been the Attorney General and Minister for Justice since April 2007. He became Minister for Industrial Relations in September, 2008. He became acting Minister for Health in 2009 (a portfolio he held before).
In the last 18 months he has been working to deliver the NSW Government’s election commitments to tackle crime and improve the justice system.
This includes introducing new laws for:
- new standard minimum sentences for the offences of murder of a child, malicious wounding, and firearms and drug offences;
- permanent laws to give the police the power they need to quell riots;
- new offences to protect children from paedophiles who seek to groom children over the internet;
- groundbreaking reforms to the laws of sexual assault to ensure ‘no’ means ‘no’;
- expanding our DNA laws to allow collection from a wider range of offences;
- a new offence of ‘domestic violence’ to name and shame offenders
- giving police the power to confiscate spray paint cans from juveniles who don’t have a lawful excuse for having it.
John Hatzistergos has been a minister since April 2003, when he was appointed Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship. During his time as Justice Minister he:
- reformed laws to ensure prisoners could not get excessive compensation,
- reformed the Parole Authority to ensure that it placed community safety first, and
- opened the new $107 million Mid-North Coast Correctional Centre at Kempsey and $54 million Dillwynia Women’s Correctional Centre.
From February 2005, he was also the Minister for Fair Trading and Minister Assisting the Minister for Commerce.
From August 2005 to April 2007, John Hatzistergos was the Minister for Health. During his time as Health Minister in the Iemma Government, NSW saw:
- record numbers of permanently employed nurses, and the highest paid nurses in the country – over 41,000 employed by the end 2006
- after hours GP clinics to take the pressure off emergency departments opened at Liverpool, Albury and Nepean Hospitals
- a five-year, billion dollar mental health plan began, including $338 million in new funding.
Before entering Parliament, John Hatzistergos was a Barrister in private practice. He also worked as a senior lawyer for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, and as a solicitor in private practice. He was also a Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Canterbury Council.
Contact Details
Office Location:
Level 33
Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer Pl
Sydney NSW 2000
Postal Address:
GPO Box 5341
Sydney NSW 2001
Phone: (02) 9228 4977
Fax: (02) 9228 3600
Email: office@hatzistergos.minister.nsw.gov.au
Attorney General, Minister for Citizenship, Minister for Regulatory Reform and Vice President of the Executive Council