Garry Edwards

For other people with similar names, see Gary Edwards.

Garry Keith Edwards (born 6 September 1950) is a former Australian politician who represented the electoral district of Swansea in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party from 2011 to 2015.^[1]

Garry Edwards
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Swansea
In office 26 March 2011 – 6 March 2015
Preceded by	Robert Coombs
Succeeded by	Yasmin Catley
Personal details
Born	Garry Keith Edwards (1950-09-06) 6 September 1950 (age 74) Sydney
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Liberal (until 2014)
Residence	Belmont, New South Wales
Occupation	Property conveyancer

Early career and background

A property conveyancer, Edwards was elected to Council for the City of Lake Macquarie in 2008 and serves as Deputy Mayor.^[2] He is an active member of the Belmont 16 ft Sailing Club and serves as Director of the Club. He is also a patron of Swansea Football Club.

Political career

Edwards won the previously very safe Labor seat from the incumbent member Robert Coombs at the 2011 state election following a previous attempt for the seat at the 2007 state election. Edwards was elected with a swing of 14.0 points and won the seat with 51.1 per cent of the two-party vote.^[3][4] Following his election, Edwards stated that he was yet to make a decision about whether he will continue to sit both on Council and as a member of parliament.^[5]

On 14 August 2014, Edwards stood aside from the parliamentary Liberal Party following the ICAC testimony of Newcastle mayor and property developer Jeff McCloy, who told the Commission he had donated $1,800 cash-in-hand to Edwards' campaign. It is illegal in New South Wales to receive political donations from property developers.^[6]

Edwards stood as an independent candidate for the seat Swansea at the 2015 state election. He received 14% of the primary vote and lost the seat to the Labor candidate Yasmin Catley.