Laurie Ferguson

Laurie Donald Thomas Ferguson (born 7 July 1952), Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives since March 1990, representing Reid until 2010 and Werriwa thereafter, both in New South Wales.

Early life and education

Laurie Ferguson grew up in Guildford. He was the son of Jack Ferguson, who was deputy premier of New South Wales 1976–84. His brother Martin was also a federal MP. Both attended at St Patrick's College, Strathfield. His younger brother, Andrew, was the former NSW Secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (Construction and General Division).

Ferguson was educated at the University of Sydney and was a research officer with the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union before entering politics. He was the member for Granville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1984–90.

Career

In the federal Parliament, Ferguson was elected to the opposition shadow ministry in March 1996 and was Shadow Minister for Immigration in 2004–05. His handling of the debate around Petro Georgiou's private member's bill on asylum seekers was severely criticised and he was shifted to Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs, Population Health and Health Regulation in June 2005. On the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007, Ferguson became Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services.