Michael Lee

Michael John Lee (born 24 March 1957) is an Australian Labor politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1984 to 2001, a minister in Paul Keating's government, and a member of the City of Sydney Council from 2004 to 2008.

Early life and education Lee was born in Sydney, where he grew up in the beachside suburb of Cronulla. Here, he attended De La Salle College, Cronulla. His immediate classmates included Steve Hutchins, a former Australian Senator, and John Della Bosca, formerly the NSW Minister for Health.

In March 1993, Lee was appointed Minister for Tourism and Minister for Resources in the second Keating Ministry. In December 1993, he replaced Bob Collins and David Beddall as Minister for Communications. In January 1994, he gained responsibility for the arts.

As Arts Minister, his first shadow was Opposition Leader John Hewson who had also been the Shadow Arts Minister. He lost his ministerial responsibility with the defeat of the Keating government at the 1996 election. He was Shadow Minister for Health from 1996 to 1998 and shadow Minister for Education from 1998 to 2001. Following his defeat in 2001, he ran as the Labor candidate for Lord Mayor of Sydney in 2004, and was defeated by Clover Moore, but was elected to the council.

Lee became President of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party in 2010, following the resignation of Bernie Riordan.