Ray Williams (Australian politician)

Ray Williams MP is an Australian politician. He is the member for the New South Wales Electoral district of Hawkesbury. He is currently serving as a councillor on Baulkham Hills Shire Council [ [http://www.baulkhamhills.nsw.gov.au/Content.aspx?PageID=19&ItemID=12 Baulkham Hills Shire Council - Councillors ] ] [ [http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nsw/content/2006/s1776211.htm Stateline NSW ] ] until September 2008. [ [http://hawkesbury.yourguide.com.au/articles/576145.html?src=topstories Ray to stay on Council - Local News - News - Political - Hawkesbury Gazette ] ]

Early life

Williams is the son of a former heavyweight boxing champion of Australia and the South Pacific, Allen Williams and Margaret Williams, the daughter of English migrants from Cornwall. His family was involved in the training of horses, and Williams followed in the family footsteps and trained horses for more than 30 years. From 1985, he worked for Glenorie Bus Company at Dural. [ [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/HansArt.nsf/V3Key/LA20070530055 Inaugural Speech] ]

Election to parliament

Williams defeated incumbent Steven Pringle in an internal Liberal Party preselection prior to the 2007 State election. As a result, Pringle decided to run for the seat as an independent. Williams proceeded to win the seat in the 2007 State Election. In 2007, Williams was accused of branch stacking after a local pastor stated in a statutory declaration that Williams paid him party membership fees for churchgoers. This claim was denied by Williams, and has not been substantiated. [ [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22316304-5001021,00.html Liberal Ray Williams accused in member scandal | The Daily Telegraph ] ] .

Controversies

Mr Williams exposed his backside to an open forum at the Richmond Club in the lead up to the 2007 State Election. In response to the Independent Steven Pringle's assertion that "It's no longer the Liberal Party it used to be... I'm concerned Alex Hawke has his hand up the back of Ray Williams", the liberal candidate for Hawkesbury, who did not have the floor, responded to Mr Pringle's claims by lifting up his suit jacket and gesturing to his rear to demonstrate he wasn't being controlled by anyone, later accusing Mr Pringle of being "the unofficial Labor candidate for the Hawkesbury". [ [http://hawkesbury.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/political/forum-becomes-bear-pit/156443.aspx Forum becomes bear pit, Hawkesbury Gazette, 21st March 2007] ] Ray Williams was also recently ejected from state parliament by the Independent speaker Richard Torbay for pretending to wrestle a toy iguana, in reference to the Belinda Neal - John Della Bosca scandal [ [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23920464-421,00.html Liberal ejected for stuffed iguana prank, News.com.au 25th June 2008] ] [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mp-thrown-out-for-stuffed-iguana/2008/06/25/1214073317236.html MP thrown out for stuffed iguana, SMH, June 25th 2008] ] [ [http://hawkesbury.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/lizard-eats-mp-just-another-day-in-iguana-gate/803172.aspx Lizard eats MP: Just another day in 'Iguana Gate', Hawkesbury Gazette, 3rd July 2008] ] . Ray Williams was also accused in 2007 of paying $282 for Pastor Zahir Ahmed's Liberal party membership renewal, a statement he signed a statutory declaration for [ [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22316304-5001021,00.html Liberal Ray Williams accused in member scandal, Daily Telegraph August 28, 2007] ]

References