:George Newhouse

Newhouse attended Sydney Grammar School and then studied Law and Commerce at the University of New South Wales.{{Cite web|url=https://gnewhouse.wordpress.com/2019/12/22/george-newhouse-biography/|title=George Newhouse Biography|first=George|last=Newhouse|date=22 December 2019}}

After leaving university, Newhouse joined JPMorgan in Sydney as a corporate finance executive and was later transferred to JPMorgan's New York office. From New York he moved to London where he worked for two years as a capital markets lawyer for Clifford Chance. In 1990 he returned to Sydney and continued working as a lawyer with Swaab & Associates. He became an accredited mediator and was a member of the Consumer Trader Tenancy Tribunal from 1999 to 2007 and a mediator for the Workers Compensation Commission from 2001 to 2010.{{Cite web|url=https://justice.org.au/george-newhouse-discusses-kids-off-nauru-on-abc-news-24/|title=George Newhouse discusses Kids off Nauru on ABC News 24 | National Justice Project|date=1 November 2018}}

In addition to his expertise in social justice law, Newhouse specialises in defamation, privacy, negligence, property, finance and planning law. He is an adjunct professor at Macquarie University

{{Cite web|url=https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/george-newhouse|title=George Newhouse|website=Macquarie University|accessdate=27 June 2023}} where he teaches law, he is also an adjunct professor at the University of Technology Sydney at the Jumbunna Inst for Indigenous Education & Research{{Cite web|url=https://profiles.uts.edu.au/George.Newhouse/|title=Adjunct Professor George Newhouse UTS Jumbunna Institute}} and is also the chapter editor of Thomson Reuters The Laws of Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders – Civil Justice Issues.

Newhouse co-founded the National Justice Project in 2016 with Dan Mori and Duncan Fine. As the principal solicitor of the Project his work involves using the law in ways that support and advance social justice and human rights in Australia. It does this by supporting those who are least able to access justice and whose cases can advance human rights within Australia and the Pacific region. In addition the National Justice Project has taken on a number of research, education, advocacy and reform projects such as the Aboriginal Health Project.{{Cite web|url=https://justice.org.au/who-we-are/|title=Who we are | National Justice Project|date=27 December 2017}}{{Cite Twitter profile|georgenewhouse}}

In August 2008 Newhouse was invited to participate in the prime minister, Kevin Rudd's Australia 2020 summit in the area of indigenous affairs.

Newhouse is well known in Australia for his human rights work with refugees, former Immigration detainees and Aboriginal Australians. His extensive social justice work was acknowledged in 2017 when he was awarded the Ron Castan Humanitarian award{{cite web| url = http://www.standup.org.au/whats-on/roncastan/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171018062521/http://www.standup.org.au/whats-on/roncastan/| archive-date = 2017-10-18| title = Ron Castan Awards {{!}} Stand Up}} and again in 2019 when he received the Australian Lawyers Alliance Civil Justice Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/news/george-newhouse-wins-2019-ala-civil-justice-award|title=George Newhouse wins 2019 ALA Civil Justice Award - Australian Lawyers Alliance|website=www.lawyersalliance.com.au}}

Newhouse represented Vivian Solon, who was deported from Australia to the Philippines; Cornelia Rau, who was detained in an Australian detention centre for ten months; the Sudanese Dafurian community, and the family of the late Richard Niyonsaba.{{cite news |title=Refugee family to be given new caseworker |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/refugee-family-to-be-given-new-caseworker/2006/01/02/1136050394334.html |date=2 January 2006 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Glendinning, Lee }} Newhouse has also acted for Tamil, Chinese, Palestinian and Iranian asylum seekers following the Rau and Solon cases.

In June 2010 Newhouse represented Tamil asylum seekers in their complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission regarding the suspension of the processing of their visas;{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} which have subsequently been processed.

In February 2011 Newhouse was successful in securing the release of Seena Akhlaqi Sheikhdost, an orphan whose parents had died in a shipwreck on Christmas Island from immigration detention.{{cite news |title=Lawyers take up case of boat orphan |url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/lawyers-take-up-case-of-boat-orphan-20110217-1axxa.html |date=17 February 2011 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Samandar, Lema |agency=AAP }}{{cite news |title=Lawyer to fight for orphaned asylum seeker |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1486197/Lawyer-to-fight-for-orphaned-asylum-seeker |date=18 February 2011 |work=Special Broadcasting Service |access-date=2 July 2017 |agency=AAP }}{{cite news |title=Fate of Christmas Island disaster orphan may be decided by court challenge |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration-minister-stands-ground-on-return-of-boat-disaster-orphan-to-christmas-island/story-fn59niix-1226007390368 |date=17 February 2011 |work=The Australian |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Kelly, Joe }} He also facilitated a family with two vulnerable children to be moved from Inverbrackie Detention Centre in Adelaide to community detention in Sydney.{{cite news |title=Inverbrackie's troubled children in court plea |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/inverbrackies-troubled-children-in-court-plea/story-e6frf7jx-1226017495508 |date=8 March 2011 |work=Herald-Sun |location=Melbourne |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Fewster, Sean }} Newhouse has championed the use of the Commonwealth's common law duty of care to have children released from fenced detention.{{cite news |title=Inverbrackie's troubled children in court plea |url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/inverbrackies-troubled-children-in-court-plea/story-fn6bqphm-1226017324064 |date=8 March 2011 |work=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Fewster, Sean }}

In 2011 in the WA Coroner's Court, Newhouse represented the survivors and relatives of those who died in the 2010 Christmas Island boat disaster;{{cite news |title=SIEV boat witnesses denied legal aid |url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/siev-boat-witnesses-denied-legal-aid-20110625-1gk4g.html |date=25 June 2011 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Cranston, Belinda |agency=AAP }} and he represented the next of kin of one of the three suicides in Villawood before the NSW Coroner.{{cite news|title=AHRC Calls for Probe |url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=171115 |work=Fiji Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913013830/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=171115 |archive-date=13 September 2012 }} He also obtained an injunction to stop the first Afghan asylum seeker to be forcibly returned to Afghanistan.{{cite news |title=Court stops forced deportation of asylum seeker |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/court-stops-forced-deportation-of-asylum-seeker-20111118-1nnds.html |date=18 November 2011 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Needham, Kirsty }} In 2013 he acted for two vulnerable youths in immigration detention and had them released into the community.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} In 2013 and 2014 together with Julian Burnside and Dan Mori he mounted a Constitutional Challenge to the detention of asylum seekers on Nauru.{{cite news |title=Australian lawyers launch constitutional challenge to detention of 10 asylum seekers on Nauru |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-07/an-nauru-asylum-seeker-legal-challenge-newhouse/5245408 |date=7 February 2014 |work=ABC News |location=Australia |access-date=2 July 2017 }} Newhouse fought for the rights of those indefinitely detained in immigration detention to be released or to have their adverse ASIO determinations reviewed.{{cite news |title=ASIO warned over blocking refugee access to lawyers |url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/asio-warned-over-blocking-refugee-access-to-lawyers-20140204-31yj6.html |date=4 February 2014 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Whyte, Sarah }}

Newhouse led a team of lawyers to challenge the Minister of Immigration's decision to refuse to bring a woman who had become pregnant as a result of a rape on Nauru to Australia for a safe and lawful termination.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/federal-court-rules-in-case-of-refugee-raped-on-nauru/7391878|title=Federal court rules in case of refugee raped on Nauru|date=6 May 2016|website=ABC Radio National}} His success in the Plaintiff s99 Case{{Cite web|url=https://jade.io/j/#!/j/?a=outline&id=464120|title=BarNet Jade - Find recent Australian legal decisions, judgments, case summaries for legal professionals (Judgments And Decisions Enhanced)|website=jade.io}} affirmed that the Minister for Immigration had a duty of care to asylum seekers offshore as well as in Australia.

As a result of that action Newhouse was able to bring other women to Australia throughout 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-03/pregnant-asylum-seeker-on-nauru-flown-to-australia/8239662|title=Pregnant asylum seeker on Nauru flown to Australia|date=3 February 2017|website=www.abc.net.au}}

In February 2017 the National Justice Project, under the direction of Newhouse, was successful, in obtaining an injunction to stop the Minister for Immigration from implementing a blanket policy to remove the mobile phones of all detainees in Immigration Detention.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/legal-battle-to-stop-cruel-mobile-phone-ban-in-detention-centres|title=Legal battle to stop 'cruel' mobile phone ban in detention centres|website=SBS News}}

In December 2017 Newhouse and the National Justice Project team commenced legal proceedings for a 12-year-old girl (known by the pseudonym FRX17) on Nauru who required urgent medical treatment which was not available on Nauru{{Cite web|url=https://jade.io/article/570410|title=FRX17 as litigation representative for FRM17 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2018] FCA 63 - BarNet Jade|website=jade.io}} that case was successful and they followed up that case with legal action for 46 other refugee children on Nauru. Those cases and the Nauru Government's decision to deport Medecins Sans Frontieres medical staff{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-10/msf-confirms-mental-health-team-told-to-leave-nauru/10361322|title='Beyond desperate': MSF confirms mental health team told to leave Nauru|date=10 October 2018|website=www.abc.net.au}} led to the #kidsoffnauru campaign{{Cite web|url=https://www.kidsoffnauru.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821152101/https://www.kidsoffnauru.com/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 August 2018|title=#KidsOffNauru|website=#KidsOffNauru}} and ultimately to legislation, known as the "Medevac bill" to ensure the medical evacuation of refugees in need of care.{{cite news|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/12/scott-morrison-suffers-historic-defeat-as-labor-and-crossbench-pass-medevac-bill|title=Scott Morrison suffers historic defeat as Labor and crossbench pass medevac bill|access-date=3 March 2019|first1=Katherine|last1=Murphy|first2=Paul|last2=Karp|date=13 Feb 2019}} His work in this area has been documented in an academic article published in the Court of Conscience.[https://web.archive.org/web/20191225050831/http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLawSocCConsc/2019/13.pdf Court of Conscience]

In 2006 Newhouse worked with the Mutitjulu Aboriginal Community to overturn the decision of the Howard Government to impose an Administrator over the Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation on the basis that the decision was ultra vires, or beyond the power of the decision maker.{{cite AustLII|FCAFC|91|2007|litigants=Giuseppe v Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations |courtname=auto |date=}} In January 2009 Newhouse advised Barbara Shaw and the Prescribed Areas Peoples Alliance on their complaint about the Commonwealth Government's Northern Territory Intervention Laws to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.{{cite news |title=NT intervention: Aboriginal Australians take their case to the UN |url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2008/10/27/nt-intervention-aboriginal-australians-take-their-case-to-the-un/ |work=Crikey |date=27 October 2008 |access-date=2 July 2017 }}{{cite news |title=Welfare payment glitch prompts calls to end income management |url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2469674.htm |work=A.M. |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=20 January 2009 |format=transcript |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Macey, Jennifer }}

In August 2009 Newhouse, on behalf of Barbara Shaw and other town camp residents, gathered a team of lawyers led by Ron Merkel {{post-nominals|country=AUS|QC}} to stop the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jenny Macklin from proceeding with her takeover of the Alice Springs Town Camps and entering into a 40-year lease with the town camp associations.{{cite news |title=Macklin stymied on camps |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/macklin-stymied-on-camps/news-story/c3842b0a6664eb5255119026ca653b2c |date=7 August 2009 |work=The Australian |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Berkovic, Nicola }}

In January 2010 he took on "cyber racists" who published material vilifying Indigenous Australians and succeeded in having Google remove search results and links to two racially offensive web pages based outside of Australia.{{cite news |title=Google agrees to take down racist site |url=http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/google-agrees-to-take-down-racist-site-20100115-maxd.html |date=15 January 2010 |access-date=2 July 2017 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |agency=AAP }} During 2010 Newhouse worked with the Aboriginal Communities in the Northern Territory to fight for a fair rent to be paid by the Commonwealth Government for leases which the Commonwealth had taken over Aboriginal land which were compulsorily acquired under the Northern Territory Intervention legislation.{{cite news |title=Community money remains frozen |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/community-money-remains-frozen/news-story/107a976078da58df8efc87858fefdbbb |date=25 June 2011 |access-date=2 July 2017 |work=The Australian |author=Schleibs, Mark }} In May 2010 Newhouse assisted traditional owners of Muckaty Station (Warlmanpa) to commence legal action against the Northern Land Council and the Commonwealth to overturn the nomination of their land as the site of Australia's first radioactive waste storage facility.{{cite news |title=Legal eagles weigh in on Muckaty dispute |url=http://www.tennantcreek.yourguide.com.au/ |archive-date=22 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722015255/http://tennantcreek.yourguide.com.au/ |work=Tennant & District Times |date=9 April 2010 |access-date=2 July 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown }}{{cite news |title=Potential legal action over nuclear dump |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2865538.htm |work=P.M. |format=transcript |date=6 April 2010 |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Kerin, Lindy |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation }}

In January 2011 Newhouse successfully represented the Hermannsburg Bulldogs, an Indigenous Australian rules football team from {{NTcity|Hermannsburg}}, in the Northern Territory and had them reinstated into the Central Australian Football League competition after they were suspended from the competition without due process.{{cite news |title=Bulldogs bite back on season suspension |url=http://www.territorystories.nt.gov.au/bitstream/10070/230804/6/ntn08feb11006x.pdf |work=NT News |date=8 February 2011 |page=6 |author=Webster, Jess |access-date=2 July 2017 |location=Darwin }} In 2013 and 2014 Newhouse acted for several Aboriginal Australian women who had their children removed by child protection agencies.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

In 2014 Newhouse acted for the family of Andrea Pickett, an Aboriginal woman who was brutally murdered by her husband. The family took action against the Western Australian Police and the WA Department of Child Protection.{{cite news |title=Family sues state for murder negligence |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/family-sues-state-for-murder-negligence/story-e6frg6nf-1226843118697#l |work=The Australian }}

Newhouse has acted in many inquests for Aboriginal Australians who died in custody. In 2015-6 he acted for the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee of WA in the inquest into the death of Ms Dhu in police custody. He also acts for the family of David Dungay Jr who died in Long Bay Correctional Centre in December 2015. {{as of|2017}} he was assisting the family of the late Wayne Fella Morrison, who died in Yatala Prison in September 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2017/05/25/family-says-wayne-morrison-was-unrecognisable-after-death-custody-south-australia|title=Family says Wayne Morrison was 'unrecognisable' after death in custody in South Australia|website=NITV|date=25 May 2017 }}

Newhouse has acted for Aboriginal Communities in WA and the Northern Territory, participated in many rallies and spoken at different events defending the rights of Indigenous Australians, refugees, ethnic minority groups and genocide survivors and denouncing all forms of racism and anti-Semitism and human rights abuse.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/10/australia-aborigine-intervention-un|title=George Newhouse: The UN must act to help indigenous Australians|date=10 November 2008|website=the Guardian}}

Newhouse has represented gay activist Gary Burns in two of his homosexual vilification cases.{{cite news|title=Burns Takes On Channel Nine |url=http://www.samesame.com.au/news/local/4066/Burns-Takes-On-Channel-Nine.htm |date=27 May 2009 |work=Same Same |location=Sydney |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Taylor, Christian |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908091312/http://www.samesame.com.au/news/local/4066/Burns-Takes-On-Channel-Nine.htm |archive-date=8 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |title=Cabbie feels the heat over gay remarks |url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/467630/cabbie-feels-heat-over-gay-remarks/ |work=The Newcastle Herald |date=7 March 2011 |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Smee, Ben}} Newhouse had an assault charge dismissed against a 64-year-old grandmother, Leentije (Eva) McDonald, who was searched by NSW Police outside a pub in {{NSWcity|Maroubra}} in unusual circumstances.{{cite news |title=Newhouse takes body search case |url=http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2007/12/19/1197740380973.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222114954/http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=%2Farticles%2F2007%2F12%2F19%2F1197740380973.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 December 2007 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=19 December 2007 |df=dmy-all }} Newhouse acted for the Emden Family in their efforts to have their claim, that the painting 'Lady with a fan', by Gerard ter Borch was stolen from their grandfather Max Emden by German army officials during World War II, recognised by the National Gallery of Victoria.{{cite news |title=Nazi loot claim fuels demand for art's return |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/nazi-loot-claim-fuels-demand-for-arts-return/2007/07/07/1183351523703.html |work=The Age |location=Melbourne |date=8 July 2007 |access-date=2 July 2017 |author=Mangan, John}} In 2015 Newhouse won a defamation case against Newscorp blogger Andrew Bolt, who had alleged that Newhouse had fraudulently asserted that a number of Sri Lankan people attempting to reach Australia by boat were asylum seekers. Newscorp were ordered to remove the offending articles.{{cite AustLII|NSWSC|567|2015|litigants=Newhouse v News Limited (No 2) |courtname=auto |date=30 November 2007}}.

Newhouse served as a Labor councillor on Waverley Council from 1995 to 2008 (representing Hunter Ward, which covers North Bondi, Rose Bay, Dover Heights and parts of Vaucluse).{{Cite web|url=https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/159206/Councillors_of_Waverley_rev.pdf|title=Councillors of Waverley|accessdate=27 June 2023}} He was active in the various local government committees, participating in the Finance, Ethics and Community Services Committees and chairing the Development Control Committee. He was a founding member of the Waverley-Woollahra Bondi Junction Joint Planning Committee, and chaired the Waverley Council Bondi Junction Committee{{Cite web|url=http://www.redwatch.org.au/media/070808sshb/|title=Sydney, Wentworth warm up for election — REDWatch - Redfern Eveleigh Darlington Waterloo Watch Group|website=www.redwatch.org.au}} during a period of major upgrade including the $600 million Westfield redevelopment and the upgrade of Oxford Street.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/pitt-street-mega-mall-lives-on-burrowed-time-20050228-gdktp4.html|title=Pitt Street mega-mall lives on burrowed time|date=28 February 2005|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}} Newhouse was elected to the executive of the NSW Local Government Association in 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/war-waged-on-stray-shopping-trolleys-20051026-gdmbi8.html|title=War waged on stray shopping trolleys|date=26 October 2005|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}} Newhouse was elected Deputy Mayor of Waverley in 2004 and became Mayor in September 2006. As Mayor, he undertook "back-to-basics" reforms by upgrading Bondi Park, Campbell Parade and Hall Street, moving Waverley Council's Service Centre and Planning Counter to Bondi Junction, creating a "mobile Mayoral unit" to keep in touch with local residents, and emphasising the need to combat climate change at a local level, by committing Waverley Council to be carbon-neutral within five years and supporting other environmentally-friendly initiatives.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/sydney-beaches-under-threat-mayor-20070917-gdr4et.html|title=Sydney beaches under threat: mayor|date=16 September 2007|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sea-rise-set-to-drown-kids-pool-20070917-gdr4hl.html|title=Sea rise set to drown kids' pool|date=17 September 2007|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}{{Cite web|url=https://amp.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/bondis-line-in-the-sand/news-story/7b11ffe55ca7ab43f265562f322c19a2|title=Bondi's line in the sand|accessdate=27 June 2023}} Newhouse did not recontest the 2008 local government election.

Newhouse was endorsed in May 2007 as the Labor candidate for the federal electorate of Wentworth, held by the Liberal member, Malcolm Turnbull; at the time the Minister for Environment in the Howard Government. In order to contest the election, Newhouse resigned as Mayor of Waverley. Although Wentworth had never been won by Labor, there was speculation{{cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Malcolm |title=A Bigger Picture |date=April 20, 2020 |page=140}} that after a redistribution it might be winnable.{{cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Malcolm |title=A Bigger Picture |date=April 20, 2020 |page=141}} Newhouse backed Labor's support of the construction of the Bell Bay Pulp Mill in the Tamar Valley, Tasmania.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/11/2056665.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011151838/http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/11/2056665.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2007 |title=Pulp mill won't hurt election bid, Newhouse says |work=ABC News |location=Australia |date=11 October 2007 |access-date=18 November 2007}} Newhouse's decision led to criticism from the Australian Greens and other environmentalists. Two candidates, former Sydney Deputy Mayor Dixie Coulton and Danielle Ecuyer, nominated against Newhouse as anti-pulp mill candidates.

A few days before the election, Turnbull made claims that Newhouse's nomination as a candidate was invalid because Newhouse did not resign from his positions on the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal and the Workers Compensation Commission before nominating.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/newhouse-says-hes-eligible-for-election-20071121-gdrnhr.html|title=Newhouse says he's eligible for election|date=21 November 2007|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}} Newhouse and the Labor Party denied that he had not resigned before nominating and dismissed the allegations by pointing to section 1 (e) of Schedule 2 of the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act which automatically vacated his office as a member of the Tribunal when Newhouse nominated for election as a member of a House of Parliament of the Commonwealth. In the days before the election the Liberal Party increased its attacks on Newhouse by revealing that a Newhouse campaign worker, former National Union of Students President Rose Jackson, had allegedly espoused "anti-Zionist views" in an email during her tenure with the NUS. Jackson said she had "not understood the proper definition of Zionism" at the time she wrote the email and that she supported the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish homeland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-11-21/newhouse-staffer-in-anti-zionist-row/731812|title=Newhouse staffer in anti-Zionist row|date=20 November 2007|website=www.abc.net.au}}

On polling day Newhouse was assaulted by a prominent journalist Caroline Overington at their local polling booth.{{cite news|title=Dispute Boils over in Wentworth |publisher=Fairfax Media |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=24 November 2007 |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/dispute-boils-over-in-wentworth/2007/11/24/1195753344751.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927132638/http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/dispute-boils-over-in-wentworth/2007/11/24/1195753344751.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |access-date=24 November 2007 |url-status=unfit }} The editor-in-chief of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, mediated the dispute between the two.{{cite news |url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/journo-sorry-for-striking-candidate/2007/12/04/1196530616539.html|title=Journo Sorry for striking candidate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304233150/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/journo-sorry-for-striking-candidate/2007/12/04/1196530616539.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|date=4 December 2007 |work=Brisbane Times }} and The Australian published an apology to Newhouse on 4 December 2007.{{cite news |url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/12/04/first-jokes-now-apologies-the-overingtonnewhouse-affair-gets-serious/|title=First jokes now apologies |date=4 December 2007 |website=Crikey |first=Margaret|last=Simons |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232326/http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/12/04/first-jokes-now-apologies-the-overingtonnewhouse-affair-gets-serious/ |archive-date=3 March 2016}}

Newhouse increased Labor's primary vote at the 2007 election, taking Labor to within 3.85% of victory.Electoral results for the Division of Wentworth{{Circular reference|date=June 2020}}

In 2004 Newhouse was appointed to the NSW Architects Registration Board to represent the views of local government; and he is a former board member of the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry. In 2008 Newhouse and Warren Mundine established the Australian Indigenous Chamber of Commerce to promote indigenous entrepreneurship.{{cite news |url=http://www.jwire.com.au/newhouse-behind-indigenous-initiative/ |work=J-Wire |title=Newhouse behind Indigenous Initiative |date=29 July 2010 |access-date=2 July 2017 }} Newhouse was a director of the chamber to 2012. Newhouse is also a member of the Board of the Stolen Generations Testimony Foundation{{cite web |url=http://stolengenerationstestimonies.com/index.php/about_us.html |title=About us |publisher=Stolen Generations Testimony Foundation |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713034844/http://stolengenerationstestimonies.com/index.php/about_us.html |archive-date=13 July 2017 |url-status=dead }} and was a Member of the advisory board of the Alex Buzo Company between 2007 and 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.alexbuzo.com.au/advisoryboard/advisoryboard.html |title=Advisory Board: 2007-2010 |publisher=Alex Buzo Company |access-date=2 July 2017 }} George also became a committee member of the Australian Climate Justice Program in November 2017.{{cite web|title=Climate Justice Program|url=http://climatejustice.org.au/|website=Climate Justice Program|access-date=29 November 2017}} In August 2009 Newhouse assisted with the establishment of the Adrian Lam Foundation for youth in PNG through education and sport.{{cite web| url = https://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/get-involved/events/rights-talk-cpcf-v-minister-immigration-and-border-protection-when| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190726182914/https://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/get-involved/events/rights-talk-cpcf-v-minister-immigration-and-border-protection-when| archive-date = 2019-07-26| title = Rights Talk: CPCF v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection – When statutory interpretation trumps international legal norms {{!}} Australian Human Rights Commission}} Newhouse has been the company secretary for The McKell Institute, a progressive public policy institute dedicated to developing practical policy ideas and contributing to public debate, since its inception in 2011.{{cite web |url=https://mckellinstitute.org.au/about/our-people/ |title=Our people |publisher=The McKell Institute |date=2017 |access-date=2 July 2017 }} In 2017 Newhouse became a committee member of the Climate Justice Programme.{{Cite web|url=https://climatejustice.org.au/|title=We use the law to fight for climate justice|first=Climate Justice|last=Programme|website=Climate Justice Programme}}

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{{s-bef|before= Mora Main}}

{{s-ttl| title= Deputy Mayor of Waverley|years= 2004–2006}}

{{s-aft| after = George Copeland}}

{{s-bef|before= Mora Main}}

{{s-ttl| title= Mayor of Waverley|years= 2006–2007}}

{{s-aft| after = Ingrid Strewe}}

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Category:1961 births

Category:Living people

Category:Jewish Australian politicians

Category:University of New South Wales Law School alumni

Category:People educated at Sydney Grammar School

Category:Lawyers from Sydney

Category:Deputy mayors of places in Australia

Category:Mayors of Waverley, New South Wales