John Sidoti


Anthony John Sidoti, an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019. Sidoti is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Drummoyne since 2011.

Early career and background

The son of Italian immigrants, Sidoti was raised in Sydney's inner west and educated at De La Salle College, Ashfield and the Ryde College of TAFE where he studied hospitality. From 1992 to 2008, Sidoti ran a function centre in Five Dock together with his family, and then was a part-time fruit merchant.
Elected as an councillor on Burwood Council in 2008, Sidoti served as mayor from 2009 up until the 2011 state election, when he stood down as mayor, remaining as a councillor.

Political career

At the 2011 state election, Sidoti was elected with a swing of 19.4 points and won the seat with 66.7 per cent of the two-party vote. Sidoti's main opponent was mayor of the City of Canada Bay, Angelo Tsirekas, representing the Labor Party. At the 2015 state election, Sidoti increased his two-party-preferred margin by around 1.7 points. From 2011 to 2015, he chaired the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee, the Catering Committee, and served as deputy ce-chair of the Social Policy Committee. From 2015 to 2017, he was parliamentary secretary for Transport, Roads, Industry, Resources and Energy and, from 2017 to 2019, was the parliamentary secretary to Cabinet.
Following the 2019 state election, Sidoti was appointed Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019. On 17 September 2019, he stood down from his ministerial duties pending a potential investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption into his property dealings.