Eric Roozendaal is a former General Secretary of the Labor Party.
20 Facts About Eric Roozendaal
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Eric Roozendaal's family is of Dutch-Jewish descent, his grandfather perishing in Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
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Eric Roozendaal studied commerce at the University of Sydney, but did not complete the course.
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Eric Roozendaal became an organiser for the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party in 1987, Assistant general secretary in 1995 and general secretary in 1999.
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Eric Roozendaal was a member of the National Executive of the Party.
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Eric Roozendaal was campaign director for Premier Bob Carr's successful election campaign in 2003.
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Eric Roozendaal carried out a crackdown on branch stacking and insisted on the selection of more female candidates in safe Labor seats.
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Eric Roozendaal was Labor's New South Wales campaign manager at the 2004 federal election.
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In 2004 Eric Roozendaal was appointed to a vacancy in the Legislative Council, succeeding Tony Burke following Burke's election to the Australian House of Representatives.
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Eric Roozendaal was immediately appointed chair of the Standing Committee on State Development, and then in August 2005 he was appointed Minister for Ports and Waterways, and in February 2006 he was promoted to Minister for Roads.
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Eric Roozendaal was against cyclists using roads during busy times, saying it was "not helpful" for cyclists to ride in peak-hour traffic.
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Eric Roozendaal described himself as a "rev head", due to his love of V8 Supercars.
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Eric Roozendaal was an advocate for transforming Sydney Olympic Park into a V8 Supercar circuit.
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Eric Roozendaal was promoted to Treasurer by incoming Premier Nathan Rees, with immediate responsibilities for producing a 2008 mini-budget and maintaining the State's credit rating.
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In 2010, Eric Roozendaal was accused of wasting taxpayers' money after he took two trips to New York at a cost of almost A$100,000.
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In 2010 and 2011, Eric Roozendaal was criticised for the deal he brokered, as Treasurer, to privatise some of the NSW Government's electricity assets; namely the retail branches of Integral Energy and Country Energy that were sold to Origin Energy in December 2010.
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The sale, unpopular with Labor's affiliate Unions NSW, was criticised by various union leaders and several called for Eric Roozendaal to be sacked.
18.
Eric Roozendaal told the ICAC that Moses Obeid, a son of Eddie Obeid, helped facilitate the car purchase by introducing him to a car dealer, but that this was to secure a discount rather than an inappropriate benefit.
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Eric Roozendaal told the ICAC he had simply forgotten to transfer the registration to his wife's name.
20.
Eric Roozendaal announced his resignation to the Legislative Council on 9 May 2013, in advance of his term that was due to expire in March 2019.