The Honourable Catherine Cusack was elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 2003 and was re-elected in 2011, and again in 2019.
Catherine grew up on a farm in rural NSW and currently lives in Lennox Head. She obtained her economics degree from the University of Sydney and was elected the first ever female State President of the NSW Young Liberals in 1985.
Catherine has a background as a professional writer including as a consultant and columnist for the Sunday Telegraph. She is a former Chair of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (Australia Region), former Chair of Australian Rural Health Research Collaboration Advisory Committee, and was Director of the Virginia Chadwick Memorial Foundation (supporting the Great Barrier Reef).
Prior to Parliament Catherine held various policy positions in Government and the private sector, and in 1996 established “Wordsworks” – her own professional writing business with corporate and government clients.
Catherine served on the Opposition front bench for 8 years variously in the Juvenile Justice, Fair Trading and Environment portfolios. In 2011 she was appointed Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee oversighting the Ombudsman, and Police Integrity Commission. She has served as Parliamentary Secretary for Tertiary Education and Skills, Parliamentary Secretary to former Premier Mike Baird, Parliamentary Secretary for Education & the Hunter, Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Inclusion, Parliamentary Secretary for Cost of Living and Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter.
Catherine serves on a number of Upper House and Joint committees within NSW Parliament and was appointed Chair of the State Development Committee in March 2021.
Known as a warrior for the Koalas in NSW, Catherine's fight for our state's precious environment remained integral to her cause with plenty of trials and tribulations. Throughout her career and until the end, Catherine stuck to her guns and said "Throughout your life, throughout your career, people can take a lot of things from you, but your integrity is yours and yours alone - nobody can take it from you, only you can chose to give that away".
Before her departure from NSW Parliament, with her integrity intact, Catherine gave her final speech in the Legislative Council on June 23 2022.
