He was the New South Wales Special Minister of State and the Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019;[2][3][4] and the Vice-President of the Executive Council, and the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council since January 2017 in the Berejiklian government.
[9] Appointed the Assistant Campaign Director of the NSW Liberal Party between 1990 and 1991, Harwin became a public affairs consultant between 1995 and 1999.
[9] He takes a strong interest in psephological matters as well as political history, frequently providing strategic advice to the Liberal party on State and Federal redistribution processes.
In 2000, he raised the issue of unsafe railway tracks in the Illawarra region, claiming that trains could only run at twenty kilometres because of faulty maintenance.
In reference to calls for civil unions he stated "The establishment by government of a new and separate institution for same-sex couples only compounds rather than resolves this issue of inequality.
[17] In October 2016, in the wake of the release of taped conversations where U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump bragged about his fame allowing him to grope women, a motion was tabled by Greens Legislative Councillor Jeremy Buckingham to condemn the Republican nominee's statements.
The motion included the statement that the NSW parliament "agrees with those who have described Mr Trump as 'a revolting slug' unfit for public office".
As the president of the upper house, Harwin allowed the term "revolting slug" to stand as suitable parliamentary language.