Carol Martin

Carol Anne Martin (born 31 October 1957) is an Australian politician and the current member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Kimberley for the Australian Labor Party, having first been elected to that position in 2001 following the retirement of Ernie Bridge. She was the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to any Australian Federal, State or Territory Parliament.^[1]

Biography

Martin was born in Perth, Western Australia and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Curtin University in 1993. Martin moved to Derby in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia where she worked as a social worker and counsellor. Martin was elected as a Shire Councillor for Derby and the West Kimberley, and was a member of the National Association for Loss and Grief in Western Australia, and the Industry Training Advisory Board and a member of the Support Committee for Young Women's Health Wise.^[2]

Martin was also responsible for the establishment of EMILY's List's Partnership for Equity Network, which is aimed at involving more Indigenous women in public life.^[3]

Martin resigned from politics in 2013, following racial slurs directed at her in response to her support for Woodside Petroleum's plans to build a liquefied natural hub near Broome.^[4]

References