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Jerome Laxale

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Jerome Laxale
MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bennelong
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 May 2022
Preceded byJohn Alexander
55th Mayor of Ryde
In office
26 September 2017 – 11 January 2022
DeputyChristopher Gordon
Simon Zhou
Peter Kim
Roy Maggio
Preceded byBill Pickering
Succeeded byJordan Lane
In office
8 September 2015 – 16 September 2016
DeputyRoy Maggio
Preceded byBill Pickering
Succeeded byBill Pickering
Councillor of the City of Ryde
for West Ward
In office
8 September 2012 – 22 July 2022
Succeeded byJustin Li
Personal details
Born (1983-11-20) 20 November 1983 (age 41)[1]
Westmead, New South Wales[1]
NationalityAustralian
French (renounced)
Mauritian (renounced)
Political partyLabor
Domestic partnerJo Taranto
Children3
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
Websitewww.jeromelaxale.com

Jerome Alexandre Alain Laxale (born 20 November 1983)[1] is an Australian politician as a member for the Australian Labor Party (ALP), representing as the Member of Parliament for Bennelong after being elected at the 2022 federal election.[2]

Laxale was formerly Councillor of the City of Ryde from 2012 to July 2022[3] and was the City's Mayor, serving two terms in 2015 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2022.[4]

Early life and career

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Laxale was born on 20 November 1983 in the Sydney suburb of Westmead to a father from Mauritius and a mother from Réunion, a French overseas department.[5] His father was a member of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM).[6] Laxale was educated at The King's School.[7][8] He then attended University of New South Wales and majored in Politics and International Relations and the French language.[9] After finishing university, he joined the family business supplying hair and beauty products as a small business director.[10]

Laxale served as a non-executive director at specialised worker's compensation insurer Statecover Mutual Limited from 2018 till his election to federal politics. During that time, he also served as Chair of the Risk committee. Laxale also served as Associate Director of Local Government Procurement, Director at of Local Government NSW and as an Advisory Board Member for Venture Cafe Sydney.[11]

Political career

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Laxale joined the Labor Party in 2004 and was the Eastwood Labor branch president since 2008.[9] He is a member of the Labor Left faction.[12]

City of Ryde

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Laxale was first elected to the City of Ryde for the West Ward in the 2012 local government elections.[13]

Laxale became Mayor of the Council on 8 September 2015 and was at the time the youngest ever in this role at the age of 31.[14][15] At the end of the one-year term on 16 September 2016, Laxale was replaced as Mayor by Liberal Councillor Bill Pickering by a 7–5 vote of the Council.[16]

After the local government elections in September 2017, on 26 September 2017, the newly-elected Council elected Laxale to be the Mayor again for a two-year term.[17] He was re-elected in September 2019[18] and in September 2021,[19] serving as mayor until January 2022, when he was succeeded by Liberal's Jordan Lane.[20]

In addition to his duties as a Councillor in the City of Ryde, Laxale was also the Treasurer in the Local Government NSW (LGNSW) Board, a position he was elected to in October 2019.[21][22]

Laxale resigned as Councillor on 22 July 2022 after he was elected to federal parliament.[23] Laxale also left the LGNSW board and his position as LGNSW Treasurer.[24]

In 2017, Laxale served for one term as Vice President of the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils.

From 2015 to 2017, Laxale served as Chairperson of the Parramatta River Catchment Group, contributing to its 10-year master plan to make the Parramatta River swimmable.[25]

Attempts to enter state politics

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Laxale contested the state seat of Ryde as the Labor candidate in the 2011, 2015 and 2019 state elections but lost to incumbent Liberal Party member Victor Dominello in all three occasions.[9][26][27] However, his primary vote and two-party-preferred vote (TPP) had increased in each election, starting with 17.0% primary vote and 24.3% TPP in 2011, increasing to 30.4% primary vote and 41% of the TPP in 2019.

Federal politics

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Laxale was the Labor Party candidate for the Division of Bennelong, which had once been represented by former Prime Minister John Howard, in the 2022 federal election. In order to stand for election, he renounced his French and Mauritian citizenships, which he inherited from his mother and father respectively.[1] He took the seat off the Liberals on a swing of 7.9 percent, just over the 6.9 percent swing he needed to win. He is just the second Labor member to win the former Liberal stronghold since its creation in 1949.[2]

Laxale serves on the House Economics Committee, the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth, the Joint Statutory Committee on Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings and the Joint Statutory Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission.[25]

In his time on these committees, Laxale has spent public hearings calling for the Reserve Bank of Australia to focus more on renters, and for banks to do more on scams and to implement fee-free digital payments.[28] Laxale is the architect of the Fee Free Digital Payments campaign.[28]

Laxale is the Chair of the Friends of France and Friends of Armenia, inter-parliamentary friendship groups, and also serves as co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Tech and Innovation.[25]

In June 2023 Laxale called for the banning of single-use disposable coffee cups in Parliament House.[29]

In December 2023 Laxale and other Labor MPs urged the Treasurer to take stronger action against the cost of living crisis. This led to the Government announcing more energy bill relief and the changes to the stage 3 tax cuts.[30]

Personal life

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Laxale has a son and twin daughters from a previous marriage.[31] Laxale's current partner is Jo Taranto.[32]

Laxale has lived in the City of Ryde and the electorate of Bennelong since 2006. He lives in North Ryde.[10]

Laxale is fluent in French. In his first speech to Parliament, he included French and Mauritian Creole phrases.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Candidate checklist and additional documentation- Jerome Laxale" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Labor wins John Howard's former seat for only second time in more than 70 years". ABC News. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  3. ^ @jeromelaxale (22 July 2022). "Thank you City of Ryde" – via Instagram.
  4. ^ "Clr Jerome Laxale". City of Ryde. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  5. ^ Stavrinos, Anthony (26 March 2022). "Ryde Councillor Jerome Laxale announced as Labor's Bennelong candidate". Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Jerome Laxale, D'origine Mauricienne, Fait Partie Du Gouvernement Travailliste d'Albanese". Le Matinal (in French). 26 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Distinguished Achievers List – 2001 HSC". NSW Educations Standards Authority. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  8. ^ "HSC Courses for implementation in Year 11, 2000". NSW Educations Standards Authority. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "NSW Votes 2011 - Ryde". ABC News. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Jerome Laxale | Labor". Ryde District Mums. 28 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Jerome Laxale MP - Australian Parliament | LinkedIn". au.linkedin.com. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Federal".
  13. ^ "2012 NSW Local Council Elections". ABC News. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  14. ^ Bastians, Kate (9 September 2015). "New Ryde mayor Jerome Laxale chosen in bizarre twist of double lucky dip". Northern District Times. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  15. ^ Robertson, James (10 September 2015). "Ryde's Jerome Laxale is mayor after name drawn from a hat – twice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Extraordinary Council Meeting - Minutes of Meeting No. 10/16" (PDF). 16 September 2016. p. 5. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  17. ^ Deare, Steven (26 September 2017). "Labor's Jerome Laxale Is Ryde Council Mayr". Northern District Times. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Clr Jerome Laxale re-elected as City of Ryde Mayor". City of Ryde. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Clr Jerome Laxale re-elected as Mayor". City of Ryde. 28 September 2021. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  20. ^ "CLR Jordan Lane elected as City of Ryde Mayor".
  21. ^ "LGNSW Board". Local Government NSW. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Cr Jerome Laxale". Local Government NSW. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Resignation of Councillor Jerome Laxale, Member for Bennelong" (PDF). City of Ryde. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Celebrate Local Government Week". Local Government NSW. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  25. ^ a b c "Mr Jerome Laxale MP". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  26. ^ "NSW Election 2015". ABC News. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  27. ^ "2019 NSW election - Ryde". ABC News. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  28. ^ a b "Fee Free Digital". Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  29. ^ "Calls for Parliament House to ban single-use coffee cups". www.abc.net.au. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  30. ^ Crowe, David (26 January 2024). "Why Albanese and Chalmers felt they had to break their election pledge on tax cuts". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  31. ^ "'I got home and burst into tears': Intimidation allegations fly in Ryde in lead up to NSW election". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  32. ^ @jeromelaxale (24 May 2022). "THANK YOU, BENNELONG" – via Instagram.
  33. ^ "French flavour to MPS' first speeches". 26 September 2022.
[edit]
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Bennelong
2022–present 		Incumbent
Civic offices
Preceded by
Bill Pickering
 Mayor of Ryde
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
Bill Pickering
Preceded by
Bill Pickering
 Mayor of Ryde
2017–2022 		Succeeded by
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