George Souris

George Souris is Deputy Chairman of Racing NSW. He was re-appointed to the board for a four-year term that ends on 28 April 2028. He is an accountant by training and a former member of the New South Wales Parliament.

Early life and accountancy

Souris was born in Gunnedah and educated at The Armidale School and the University of New England. He holds a Bachelor of Economics and a postgraduate diploma in financial management. He is also a Fellow of CPA Australia. He worked as an accountant in public practice from 1975 to 1987. He also played representative rugby, for NSW Country, Combined Australian Universities and the Australia Under-23 team, and for the Gordon Rugby Club.

Political career

Souris represented Upper Hunter for the National Party in the NSW Legislative Assembly for 27 years, from 1988 to 2015. Before that he served for seven years as a councillor and deputy president of Singleton Shire Council. He was deputy leader of the Nationals from 1993 to 1999. He then led the parliamentary party from January 1999 to March 2003.

In government he held several portfolios. In the 1988-1995 governments these included Finance, Sport and Recreation, and Land and Water Conservation. He was Minister for Racing in the Greiner, Fahey and O'Farrell governments, and Shadow Minister for Racing under the Carr and Iemma governments. In the O'Farrell government, from 2011 to 2014, he was Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Minister for Liquor and Gaming, and Minister for the Arts. He also served as Minister for the Hunter between December 2013 and April 2014. When Mike Baird succeeded O'Farrell as Premier, Souris was dropped from Cabinet. He announced his retirement in September 2014 and did not contest the 2015 election.

Other roles

Souris was President of the State Library of NSW and a member of its Audit and Risk Committee from 2015 to 2024. Over the same period he was a director and trustee of the State Library of NSW Foundation. He received the Medal of the State Library of NSW in 2025. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Queen's Honours List.

Since 2021 he has been a trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground Heritage Trust. He is also a trustee of the Sir Earle Page Memorial Trust and a director of the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation. His earlier appointments include:

• Director of Destination NSW
• Director of Business Events Sydney
• Chair of the NSW Mine Safety Council
• Chair of Etymon Ltd
• Director of the Australian Rugby Foundation
• Director of the Australian Film Institute and Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, 2015-2020
• President of the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Alliance, 2015-2017
• Trustee and chairman of the NSW Parliamentary Superannuation Fund over seven years to 2015