Richard Amery

Richard Sanderson Amery (born 31 March 1951) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1983 to 2015, representing the electorates of Riverstone (1983–1991) and Mount Druitt (1991–2015).^[1]

The Honourable Richard Amery
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Mount Druitt
In office 25 May 1991 – 6 March 2015
Preceded by	Seat recreated
Succeeded by	Edmond Atalla
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Riverstone
In office 22 October 1983 – 3 May 1991
Preceded by	Tony Johnson
Succeeded by	John Aquilina
Personal details
Born	Richard Sanderson Amery (1951-03-31) 31 March 1951 (age 73) Liverpool, New South Wales
Political party	Labor Party
Occupation	Police officer

Early career

Prior to entering politics, Amery spent several years in the retail industry before becoming a police officer with New South Wales Police, where he served for 13 years. At the time he resigned to take up his political work he was a senior constable.^[1]

Parliamentary career

Amery was the Minister for Agriculture from 1995 to 1997, when he was allocated additional responsibilities as Minister for Land and Water Conservation. He served as minister in both portfolios until 2001, when the Land and Water Conservation was allocated to another minister and Amery took on Corrective Services.^[1]

Amery returned to the backbench following the 2003 election, as part of a larger reshuffle which also saw the departure of Ministers John Aquilina (who became Speaker) and Paul Whelan (who retired from Parliament).

As the longest-serving member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Amery is bestowed a colloquial title, Father of the House.^[2] On 8 August 2014 Richard Amery announced that he would leave politics at the next NSW state election in 2015.^[3] Father of the House Richard Amery (Mount Druitt) retired from parliament in 2015.^[4]