As part of a Cabinet reshuffle, the NSW Premier has appointed Liberal MP Alister Henskens (Member for Ku-ring-gai, pictured) as the new Minister for Skills and Training. Minister Henskens also holds the portfolios of Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology; and Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.
The previous NSW Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education, Dr Geoff Lee, has moved to the new portfolio of Correctional Services.
Community Colleges Australia (CCA) congratulates both Ministers on their new appointments. “CCA welcomes Minister Henskens to his new portfolio of skills and training, and looks forward to working closely with him. We also thank Dr Geoff Lee for his support, attention and commitment to NSW training and skills, a ministry he has held for almost three years and has served with distinction,” said Dr Don Perlgut, CEO.
About the Hon Alister Henskens MP, NSW Minister for Skills and Training
Alister Henskens has been the Member for Ku-ring-gai in the NSW Parliament since 2015. He was previously the Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services in the NSW Government and has served as the Cabinet Secretary in the NSW Government and the Parliamentary Secretary for Finance. He has been the Chair of several Parliamentary Committees, including the Transport and Infrastructure Committee.
His family have lived in the Ku-ring-gai area since 1996 and it is where his children attended school. He was born, raised and schooled in Newcastle NSW. Alister’s father immigrated to Australia from the Netherlands in 1951, while his mother was born and raised in Australia and completed her secondary education in Ku-ring-gai.
Alister has degrees in Economics and Law from the University of Sydney and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Toronto, Canada, where he studied under a Rotary Foundation Scholarship.
After completing his studies, Alister was a lawyer for 27 years, first as a solicitor and then as a barrister, being appointed as a Senior Counsel or SC in 2011. As a barrister, he worked principally in the areas of general commercial, insolvency, banking, defamation, and building and construction law. He was also Counsel Assisting the Equine Influenza Inquiry in 2007.
Prior to entering Parliamentary service, Alister was involved in a number of community activities including as a director of Basketball NSW, a coach and manager of club and representative sporting teams and President of his local public school’s P & C.
