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NSW Senate contender brings a wealth of life and career experience to the table
His diverse background and understanding of inclusion and equality mean that principal lawyer and NSW political candidate Kingsley Liu has a lot to share with his community.
Shandel McAuliffe
Mr Liu’s life experiences embody diversity, with an education and career that span multiple countries and disciplines.
In his profile for the Australian Citizens Party, Mr Liu outlines his extensive travels: “When [I was] still a young man, I left Australia to gain overseas experience and to secure a better destiny. I spent 17 years in east Asia, North America and Europe, mostly in investment banking in the major investment centres throughout the developing world. I lived in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan during important geopolitical moments.”
In conversation with Lawyers Weekly, Mr Liu stated: “My diversity experiences gave me [extensive knowledge] about equality and inclusiveness.”
For the last 20 plus years, Mr Liu has been working in law, following a career in both the investment banking and the theme park industries. He moved towards law in early 2000 and now runs a law firm: The People’s Solicitors.
“It has run for 17 years. I formed it in partnership with the former attorney-general of NSW, the late Jeff Shaw, QC and Supreme Court judge,” he said.
“We have always acted for the less privileged and disadvantaged. We have run cases against Department [sic] of Infrastructure (Badgery Creek Tenants – Airport); Queensland Health (Negligence); Catholic Church (abuses by priests); and other forms of human rights cases.”
As with his education and professional career, Mr Liu’s political career has also been varied. He joined the Australian Greens Party in 2014, after representing an Indian Muslim party of clients who needed assistance defending a new prayer hall they wished to build. He won the case and started his political career soon after.
Now a member of the Australian Citizens Party, Mr Liu said that the party’s values encompass a “belief in the ‘common good’”.
He added that they are concerned with “raising the living standards of all people through nation-building infrastructure, education, free health care, and scientific and cultural progress”.
Explaining why he has chosen to be a member of the party, Mr Liu said that he resonated “with a lot of their values”.
“I get on well with the leadership and the team. I have much to contribute. My point of view on issues is valuable to them,” he said.
“I appreciate their policy on a new National Public Bank ... to restore national building as a priority which changes the economic focus to achieve a more equitable balance on benefits for the people, and on foreign policy for a more nuanced outlook on relationships with all countries.”
Mr Liu shared with Lawyers Weekly that: “Career wise, some may see it’s a binary choice [sic] of being in one of the two major parties, to follow a more conventional entry into politics, [resulting in an] eventual opportunity for a more winnable seat after a long and more surer youthful entry route along with apprenticeship through party politics and [more] experiences in running for a seat.
“The other is to follow a more independent road, or a more transformative role, perhaps at a more mature stage in life.”
Diversity is front of mind for Mr Liu in his bid for a Senate seat, and he stated that inclusion and equality are necessary “for effective functioning across Australian communities”.
Furthermore, a legal background has been extremely useful throughout his political career, Mr Liu added.
“Lawyers are highly equipped in a number of ways in leadership, transformation and governance but there are very visible skills that need to be mastered: empathy, patience, active listening and communication skills with the parliamentary offices, public service organisation and the public audience itself,” he said.
“The most important skill for a lawyer as a politician is advocating ideas.”
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