(Published October 2025)
Alister Andrew Henskens (born 30 December 1963) is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party, currently representing the electorate of Wahroonga in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He previously held senior ministerial portfolios including Skills and Training, Science, Innovation and Technology, and Leader of the House. A lawyer by training, Henskens was appointed Senior Counsel in 2011 before entering politics.
While his career has been defined by Australian public service, his family story is deeply rooted in the Netherlands. His father, born in the southern Dutch town of Waalre near Eindhoven, lived through the German occupation during the Second World War. In his inaugural parliamentary speech, Henskens shared that in October 1944 his father spent two days hiding in a basement while Allied and German shelling devastated the area. At the age of seventeen, his father joined local efforts to support the resistance, an experience that would profoundly shape his outlook on freedom and responsibility.
The family’s wartime history extends across several relatives. In another address, titled My Uncle Leo, Aunty Zus and the Holocaust, Henskens described how his uncle Leo and aunt Zus risked their lives by hiding a Jewish family in their home during the occupation. Some of his father’s brothers were captured, imprisoned, or died during the war. The family’s experiences represent the courage and suffering that marked the Netherlands during Nazi rule, a legacy that resonated through Henskens’ later reflections on justice, moral conviction, and human rights.
In 1951, six years after the end of the war, Henskens’ father migrated to Australia seeking new beginnings. Like many postwar Dutch migrants, he arrived with few possessions but strong technical skills, determination, and a desire for stability. He settled in Newcastle, New South Wales, where he later met Alister’s mother, an Australian-born teacher. Their marriage represented the integration of Dutch resilience and Australian openness that characterised much of the postwar migration experience.
Alister Henskens was born and raised in Newcastle, where the family retained a quiet but enduring connection to their Dutch roots. The stories of occupation and liberation were part of his upbringing, instilling an appreciation for civic duty and community life. He later studied economics and law at the University of Sydney, completing a Master of Laws at the University of Toronto on a Rotary Scholarship. Before entering politics, he practised as both solicitor and barrister, gaining recognition for his work in complex civil and commercial law.
Henskens’ public life has often reflected values associated with the Dutch tradition of civic participation: consensus-building, pragmatism, and respect for institutions. His father’s journey from occupied Europe to democratic Australia forms an intergenerational narrative of perseverance and belief in liberal democracy. Through his speeches, Henskens has ensured that the experiences of ordinary Dutch families—displacement, migration, and renewal—remain part of Australia’s broader wartime and postwar memory.
This profile was written in October 2025.
