Robyn Mary Parker (born 3 August 1958), is a former Australian politician, and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Maitland for the Liberal Party from 2011 to 2015 and was previously a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales between 2003 and 2011. Parker was the New South Wales Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Heritage in the O'Farrell government from 2011 until April 2014. Parker was succeeded by Rob Stokes in the Baird cabinet.
Early years and background
Parker was born to parents, Adeline and Campbell McEwen. Her family has its origins in the dairy farming district of Taranaki, New Zealand. She studied at the Palmerston North Teachers' College at Massey University, New Zealand and obtained a Diploma of Teaching. She subsequently worked as a development officer with a focus on Children's Services for the City of Sunshine between 1979 and 1980; a Family Day Care Co-ordinator for the City of Oakleigh between 1981 and 1982, and for Queensland Centacare between 1982 and 1983. After moving to Maitland in the mid-1980s, she was the Co-ordinator of a mobile resource service between 1984 and 1995 and she also taught child studies for TAFE between 1985 and 1992. At Maitland, she developed one of the first mobile community outreach programs for that city.
Her interest in politics became evident in 1999, when she became a political advisor to Senator John Tierney but left in November 2001 to become a manager at a skin cancer centre in Lake Macquarie. At the clinic she developed and implemented a program to encourage women to take leadership positions within politics, particularly the Liberal party.
Parker was the Vice-President of the Liberal Party of New South Wales in 1997–2000, and was the president of the NSW Women's Council in 2000–2003. As head of the Liberal Women's Forum, she supported the training and mentoring of women in all levels of Government and initiated the Pathways to Political Leadership Programme.
Political career
Ministerial career
As Minister for the Environment, Parker has sought to increase penalties for pollution and develop an independent Environment Protection Authority. She pursued a science-based approach to recovery of threatened species and secured additional funding for these programs.
During Parker's ministry, the EPA also introduced an energy and waste policy aimed at business recycling across NSW, and programs to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. In three years as heritage minister Parker delivered a record number of Maitland buildings to the state heritage register including Maitland's Jewish Cemetery.
During her time as Minister for the Environment, Parker also oversaw the creation of the most comprehensive air quality network in Australia Securing the International World Parks Congress for Sydney in November 2014, greater support for Taronga Zoo's conservation program, the introduction of legislation banning solaria, making NSW the second in the world to do so (a lead other states have followed) and provided increased funding for community, local government, not for profit and aboriginal heritage projects throughout New South Wales.