James Alan Longley better known as Jim Longley, is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n accountant

Accountant

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...

 and former politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He served as the Member for Pittwater

Electoral district of Pittwater

Pittwater is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. Located in Sydney's north-east, it is 175.32 km² in size, and comprises the local government area of Pittwater Council and parts of Warringah Council...

 in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 from 1986 until 1996, and was New South Wales Minister for Community Services, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister for the Ageing during his tenure in the Assembly.

Education and personal

Longley was born in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and attended Mona Vale Primary School, Sydney Grammar Preparatory School, Narrabeen High School

Narrabeen Sports High School

Narrabeen Sports High School, is a school located in North Narrabeen, New South Wales, Australia, on Namona Street and Pittwater Road. It is a co-educational Sports high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training with students from years 7 to 12...

, and St Andrew's Cathedral School

St Andrew's Cathedral School

St Andrew's Cathedral School is an independent, non-selective, Anglican, co-educational, day school located in the heart of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

. He received his Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

, and a Masters degree from Macquarie University

Macquarie University

Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...

, and also attended the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

, in the United States of America. On 19 January 1991, he married Sally Welch. They have two children, a daughter and a son. Longley is an Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

. Longley is a Certified Practising Accountant

Certified Practising Accountant

Certified Practising Accountant is the title used by members of the CPA Australia accountancy association. Accountants practising in Australia have the choice of becoming members of CPA Australia , joining the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia or the Institute of Public Accountants...

, and a Fellow of the Society of Certified Practising Accountants. Before entering politics, he was a banking executive. Longley began his political career in 1974, when he joined the Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

. In 1978 he founded the Pittwater Young Liberals

Young Liberals (Australia)

The Young Liberal Movement is the youth division of the Liberal Party of Australia, and membership is open to those between 16 and 30 years of age. Members of Young Liberals have full party-membership, and have the choice of which part they join...

, and served as President and then Secretary of the organisation.

Political career

On 31 May 1986 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, was appointed the Acting Shadow Minister for Finance soon thereafter. In 1992, he was appointed Minister for Community Services, and in late 1993 added Aboriginal Affairs and Ageing to his portfolio. After the Coalition lost Government in March 1995, he served for a year in Opposition before resigning on 20 March 1996, after nearly ten years in the Assembly.

Post political career

After his resignation from Parliament on 1996 until late 2000, he was the CEO of Anglican Retirement Villages. He resigned from the ARV to take up a role with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. Commonwealth Bank provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance,...

where he continues to work today in a government liaison role.