Anthony Roberts

Roberts was elected to Lane Cove Council and was a councillor between 1995 and 2003, including a term as deputy mayor and two terms as mayor, between 1999 and 2000 and between 2001 and 2002. In the book Jonestown: The Power and the Myth of Alan Jones, journalist Chris Masters claimed that Roberts was employed to act as a liaison between the office and Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones. Australian online political magazine Crikey.com gave Roberts the title, "Minister for Alan Jones". Orange Grove accusations After Roberts was elected to parliament in 2003, Flagship Communications acted on behalf of owners of the Orange Grove site. Then NSW Premier Bob Carr claimed in 2004 that, "there appeared to be a warm relationship between Gazcorp and Mr Roberts, evidenced by a stream of faxes and emails giving the Liberal MP questions to ask of the Labor Party about the factory outlet". On 14 September 2004, Roberts said in Parliament that he had ceased being a director of Flagship Communications prior to being elected to Parliament and had never received any payment from Flagship Communications. ==Political career==

Roberts left Howard's office when he was elected as the Member for Lane Cove in 2003, following the retirement of Kerry Chikarovski. His main opponent was Mario Tsang, representing Labor. Roberts voted against legalising abortion in 2019 in NSW https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/two-charged-over-threatening-phone-calls-to-mps/11416430 Minister (2011-2023) On 3 April 2011, subsequent to the state election, Roberts was appointed as the Minister for Fair Trading in the O'Farrell government. Following the resignation of Barry O'Farrell as Premier, and the subsequent ministerial reshuffle by Mike Baird, the new Liberal Leader, in April 2014, Roberts assumed the role of Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly, in addition to his Ministerial responsibilities. Following the 2015 state election, Roberts was sworn in as the Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy, and retained his role as Leader of the House. In this role, Roberts was tasked with the creation of 150,000 jobs in NSW over four years, promoting industry development in NSW and leading the newly created Department of Industry, Skills and Regional Development. Following the resignation of Mike Baird as Premier, Gladys Berejiklian was elected as Liberal leader and sworn in as Premier. The Berejiklian ministry was subsequently formed with Roberts sworn in as the Minister for Planning, the Minister for Housing, and the Special Minister of State with effect from 30 January 2017. He retained his responsibilities as the Leader of the House. In the second Berejiklian ministry, Roberts served as the Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections, from April 2019 through to the second rearrangement of the Perrottet ministry in December 2021. He was subsequently sworn in as the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Homes. He was Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes in the Perrottet ministry from December 2021 until March 2023 when the Perrottet government was defeated at the 2023 New South Wales state election. == References ==