HON ROB STOKES

Rob is currently the Minister for Education with the NSW Government, where he is responsible for the leadership of teaching and learning across the primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors in NSW. He has previously taught students at secondary, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Rob has also served as Minister for Planning, where he was focused on promoting development throughout the state that improves people's lives into the future, as well as securing the conservation and sustainable use of our State's environmental and historic heritage. Rob has also served as Minister for Environment and Heritage, Assistant Minister for Planning, and Minister for the Central Coast.

Previous parliamentary roles have included service as the inaugural Parliamentary Secretary for Renewable Energy, membership of the parliamentary Privileges committee and the committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and as Opposition Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Infrastructure. Outside parliament, Rob has been an Honorary Fellow with Macquarie Law School, a director of the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning and an Assessor with the Northern Beaches Branch of Surf Life Saving Australia. Rob has also worked as a solicitor in general commercial practice. He was first elected as the parliamentary representative for the NSW electorate of Pittwater in 2007, and was re-elected with an increased majority in 2011 and 2015. Rob has double degrees in arts and law and has completed a PhD in law under a Commonwealth Scholarship. He is currently reading for a MSc in sustainable urban development.