Career

Sykes was also a Victorian Football League (VFL) football player, playing 48 games of football for Fitzroy, and later coaching Shepparton, Benalla and Benalla & District junior football teams. Together, the Sykes have been involved in a wide range of community activities including school councils, youth groups, sporting clubs, Landcare, fire brigade and the Victorian Farmers Federation. Sykes was also instrumental in the establishment of the Benalla Trust Foundation, a trust to assist local people in times of crisis, and the Benalla Young Sportspersons Trust, a trust that assists promising young athletes to compete in interstate and overseas competitions.

Benalla had been held by the Nationals since 1943, and for all but nine years since 1920, but was lost in a by-election in 2000 after the retirement of former Nationals leader and Deputy Premier Pat McNamara.

The seat reverted to form at the 2006 state election, and Sykes held the seat without serious difficulty until his retirement in 2014.

Achievements

• The Labor Party was re-elected in a landslide in the 2002 election, yet Sykes won Benalla back with only 26% of the primary vote to give a 52% two party preferred vote over the incumbent, Denise Allen. He won the seat on the third count when a Liberal candidate"s preferences flowed overwhelmingly to him.

Membership

He was the Nationals member of the Victorian parliament, representing Benalla, from 2002 to 2014, after a career as a veterinarian and businessman.