Stephen Martin

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Dr Stephen Paul Martin (born in Wollongong, New South Wales on June 24, 1948) is a politician.

He served as an Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of parliament for the Commonwealth electoral Division of Macarthur, south west of Sydney, from 1984-1993; and he represented Cunningham, following redistribution from 1993, until his resignation in 2002.

Prior to entering parliament, Dr Martin served as a high school teacher with the NSW Department of Education, a lecturer at the University of Wollongong, and a Town Planner with the NSW Department of Environment and Planning serving as Regional Manager for the Macarthur Region. He also served as an Alderman on Wollongong City Council from 1983-1985.

He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 27 December 1991 to 24 March 1993 and was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on 4 May 1993, a position that he held until the election of the Howard government in 1996.

The resignation of Dr Martin before the expiration of his term, on 16 August 2002, caused a by-election which was subsequently won by the Australian Greens. The party's preselected replacement, Sharon Bird, had not been selected by the rank and file members of the party, but rather by using a provision in the party rules, and the presence of a Green trade union candidate with the support of the South Coast Labor Council, local trade union members and disaffected ALP members helped to make Martin's former the seat the first ever House of Representatives seat to be won by a minor party.

Preceded by Colin Hollis	Member for Macarthur 1984–1993	Succeeded by Chris de Haviland
Preceded by Stewart West	Member for Cunningham 1993–2002	Succeeded by Michael Organ
Preceded by Leo McLeay	Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives 1993–1996	Succeeded by Robert Halverson