Robert Coombs (politician)
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|honorific-suffix =
|image =
| constituency_MP =Swansea
| parliament = New South Wales
|term_start =24 March 2007
|term_end =26 March 2011
|predecessor=Milton Orkopoulos
|successor = Garry Edwards
|majority =
|birth_date =
|birth_place=
|death_date =
|death_place=
|party = Labor Party
|relations =
|spouse = Yasmin Catley
|children = Three daughters
|residence =
|occupation = Merchant sailor, trade union official
}}
Robert Darcy Coombs is an Australian politician and former Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Coombs represented the electorate of Swansea from 2007 to his defeat at the 2011 New South Wales state election.
Career
Coombs joined the Australian Merchant Navy in the 1970s, working for six years on BHP vessels sailing out of Newcastle.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} He joined the Maritime Union of Australia, and eventually rose to become the Sydney Branch Secretary of the Union, then its National President.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} He also became an Executive Member of Unions NSW. He resigned those roles upon being elected to Parliament.
Coombs was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in March 2007 for the electorate of Swansea.{{Cite NSW Parliament |name=Mr Robert Darcy Coombs (1959- ) |id=2184 |former=Yes |access-date=10 September 2019}}
Coombs was the Caucus chairman.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/what-lifes-like-on-planet-kristina/news-story/5ca8bc86ef290029b0277c1434be8d19|title=What life's like on Planet Kristina|date=2010-06-22|website=www.dailytelegraph.com.au|language=en|access-date=2019-09-10}} He was also a member of the committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption and a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.
At the March 2011 State Election, Coombs was defeated in the seat of Swansea, after suffering in the statewide landslide defeat of the Labor Party. Coombs lost to the Liberals' Garry Edwards after just one term in parliament, becoming the first Labor member to be defeated by any other political party in Swansea.
Personal life
He is married to the current member for Swansea Yasmin Catley, and they have three daughters.{{cite hansard |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1323879322-37933/link/2184 |speaker=Robert Coombs |title=Inaugural speech |date=9 May 2007 |access-date=10 September 2019 |house=Legislative Assembly |jurisdiction=NSW}}
References
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{{succession box | title=Member for Swansea | before=Milton Orkopoulos | after=Garry Edwards | years=2007–2011}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Coombs, Robert}}
Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales