Alex Greenwich | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Greenwich in 2017 | |
| Member of theNew South Wales Parliament forSydney | |
| Assumed office 27 October 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Clover Moore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Hart Greenwich (1980-11-28)28 November 1980 (age 44) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Clover Moore Independent Team |
| Spouse | |
| Residence | Darlinghurst[1] |
| Alma mater | University of New South Wales |
| Profession | Politician |
| Signature |  |
Alexander Hart Greenwich is an Australian politician. He is a member of theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat ofSydney since the2012 Sydney by-election. He ran as anindependent and was backed by his predecessor, independentClover Moore. He is also the co-chair ofAustralian Marriage Equality and was one of the key leaders of the successful Yes campaign for theAustralian Marriage Law Postal Survey in 2017 and abortion legalisation within New South Wales in 2019. He is a proponent ofLGBTQIA+ rights by helping to pass laws that respond to issues within the LGBTQIA+ community. He helped legalisevoluntary assisted dying in 2022.
Greenwich was born inNew Zealand to aGeorgian father andAmerican mother. His father, Victor Greenwich Dadianov (formerly the Honorary Consul-General of Georgia in Sydney, 2004–2013), was bornPrince Victor Dadianov of the princely GeorgianDadiani family[2] but his mother changed the name toGreenwich after they moved as refugees to New Zealand from Russia after theSecond World War.[3] At the age of seven, Greenwich moved with his family to Sydney. From his family residence inCircular Quay, Greenwich was educated atSydney Grammar School and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management and Russian Studies at theUniversity of New South Wales.[4] From 1 December 1998 to 1 December 2012, Greenwich was the Managing Director of his own recruiting agency,Winning Attitudes Recruitment.[5]
He is a direct descendant of theHouse of Dadiani, one of the oldest royal houses inEastern Europe.[2]
Greenwich is an openly gay male MP in the NSW Legislative Assembly. Before entering politics, Greenwich was a prominentLGBT rights activist and ledAustralian Marriage Equality (AME).[6]
Prior to running for office, Greenwich was the national convener of AME from 2009, and in 2010 was named as one of Samesame.com.au's 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians.[7] As national convener, Greenwich organised over 44,000 submissions to be made to the 2011Australian Senate inquiry into same-sex marriage, and continues to be a prominent activist for achievingsame-sex marriage reform in Australia.[7] In May 2012, Greenwich married hisGerman Australian long-term partner, Victor Hoeld, inArgentina, where same-sexmarriage was already legal.[8]
As of 2017 Greenwich has triple Australian, New Zealand and United States citizenship.[9] Shortly before this was publicised, Greenwich had renounced his New Zealand citizenship.[9]
In 2023, Greenwich was one of those honoured as part of the 'Pride 2023' campaign. During this Sydney'sQueen Victoria Building (QVB) underwent a transformation, including a temporary renaming, celebrating SydneyWorldPride. The QVB paid tribute to five members of the LGBTQIA+ community by capturing them as ‘Real Queens’ in a series of royal–style portraits.[10] For WorldPride, Greenwich swapped his signature casual suit and shirt for a tuxedo with green tulle in a display that was hosted in the QVB.[11]
In May 2023, Greenwich announced he would be launching defamation action againstMark Latham for his homophobic tweet about Greenwich, following Greenwich criticizing Latham over an event he was speaking at where pro-LGBT protesters demonstrating against his appearance were attacked. Greenwich has also made a formal complaint to police against Latham, for using a carriage service to harass and offend, and has also lodged a complaint of homosexual vilification to the anti-discrimination board.[12]
On 11 September 2024, theFederal Court ruled that the tweet was defamatory. Judge David O'Callaghan found that the tweet was defamatory because it made Greenwich out to be a person that "engages in disgusting sexual activities". He rejected Latham'sdefenses, a statutory defense of honest opinion and a common law defense of qualified privilege, right of reply to attack. Greenwich also claimed that the tweet conveyed that Greenwich was not a fit and proper person to be a member of theNew South Wales Parliament, however the judge found that allegation not proven. The court awarded Greenwich $140,000 in damages. Greenwich praised the judgement, saying "It gives me confidence that we've established some case law here that can protect other LGBTQ people", and that "The strength of this judgment is that we're that it is made clear that thisTrump-style political attack on your opponents based on their sexuality, based on whatever you want to attack them for, has no place in the Australian public political discourse".[13][14][15]
In July 2012, Greenwich aligned himself with prominentindependentLord Mayor of SydneyClover Moore and announced his candidacy on Moore's ticket for theSydney City Council elections scheduled for the NSW local government elections inSeptember 2012.[16] This low (and therefore most likely unelectable) position on the ticket fuelled speculation that this was to increase Greenwich's visibility for a possible run to succeed Moore should she be forced to resign her state seat ofSydney in light of promised reforms by theO'Farrell Liberal/National government to ban MPs from serving onlocal government bodies.[17] This legislation was subsequently passed as theLocal Government Amendment (Members of Parliament) Act 2012 (NSW)[18] and following the local government elections in which Moore was re-elected for a third term as lord mayor, Moore resigned her seat in theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly, triggering a by-election.[19]
Greenwich subsequently contested the2012 Sydney by-election as an independent with the endorsement of Moore, comfortably defeatingShayne Mallard of theLiberal Party with a 47.3 percent primary and 63.7 percenttwo-candidate preferred vote.[20] Greenwich said after the by-election that it was "very clearBarry O'Farrell's legislation has backfired – because now there are two of us".[21] Greenwich has denied claims that he is a single-issue politician,[22] having gone to the by-election on a platform involving a range of policy areas, including small business, the re-establishment of an inner-city public high school, and social welfare and public housing, among others.[23][4]
Greenwich introduced theReproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 into theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly on 1 August 2019, in a bid to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales, allow abortions for up to 22 weeks, and permit an abortion after 22 weeks if two medical practitioners agree. The bill passed the parliament on 26 September and was givenroyal assent on 2 October 2019 as theAbortion Law Reform Act 2019.[24][25]
In October 2021, Greenwich introduced the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021. This bill later passed parliament and allows people to end their lives if they have a terminal illness. It passed both chambers of parliament and receivedroyal assent in May 2022.[26]
Greenwich also supported and introduced the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 which was passed by members of New South Wales's Parliament on 17 October 2024.[27]
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member for Sydney 2012–present | Incumbent |
