Louise Markus

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Louise Markus
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Macquarie
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 August 2010
Preceded by Bob Debus
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Greenway
In office
9 October 2004 – 21 August 2010
Preceded by Frank Mossfield
Succeeded by Michelle Rowland
Personal details
Born (1958-09-06) 6 September 1958
Epping, Sydney, New South Wales Australia
Nationality Australian
Political party Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s) Jim Markus
Children Joshua and Hannah
Alma mater University of New South Wales
Profession Social worker
Religion Assemblies of God in Australia
Website www.louisemarkus.com.au

Louise Elizabeth Markus (born 6 September 1958), Australian federal politician, is a member of the Australian House of Representatives, initially elected to represent the seat of Greenway in western Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election. Following an unfavourable redistribution in 2010, she moved to the seat of Macquarie.

Early years and background

She was educated at the University of New South Wales, graduating in social work, and was a community worker running the Hillsong Church's drug and alcohol outreach service in Blacktown prior to entering politics.[1]

She is married to Jim Markus, who is from Papua New Guinea;[2] together they have two children.

Political career

Subsequent to the 2004 election, unsubstantiated allegations were made in the NSW State Parliament under Parliamentary privilege that Mrs Markus had directly benefited from unauthorised campaign materials containing false statements in an attempt to capture anti-Islamic sentiment against her Labor opponent.[3] These allegations were not supported as the basis for his loss by the Labor Candidate[4] nor supported by contemporary media coverage.[5]

Markus retained the seat of Greenway with a comfortable margin in the 2007 election, although with a nominal swing of 6.85% against her on a two-party preferred basis.[6]

Following the 2007 election, she was made Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship, but lost the position in 2010.[7] She was previously the Shadow Minister for Veteran's Affairs.

She lives in Riverstone, outside her electorate of Macquarie. A September 2006 redistribution of boundaries saw massive changes in the shape of her electorate of Greenway being centred on the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains rather than Blacktown. The northward shift in electorate boundaries also saw Greenway change from safe Liberal to safe Labor. A further electoral redistribution in 2009 made the seat of Greenway notionally Labor on an estimated margin of 5.7%.[8]

Markus contested the 2010 federal election as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Macquarie . The 2009 electoral redistribution had dealt a fraction of her former electorate into Macquarie. Markus won the two-party preferred vote by 2.52% against labor, with most support in her traditional base in the urban east of the electorate, and high Greens votes in the smaller upper Blue Mountains booths.[9]

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Mrs Louise Markus MP". House of Representatives - Members. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  2. ↑ "Maiden Speech - Mrs Louise Markus MP". House of Representatives - Members. extracted from the Parliament of Australia. 2004-11-17. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  3. ↑ "Religious Freedom". NSW Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 2004-10-27. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  4. ↑ Husic, Ed (2005-10-20). "Religion was used as a weapon". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
  5. ↑ Sheehan, Paul (2004-09-27). "Candidate's silence could speak volumes". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-08-09. 
  6. ↑ "House of Representatives Division First Preferences - Greenway". 2007 federal election. Australian Electoral Commission. 2007. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  7. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/national/turnbull-takes-key-spot-in-game-of-snakes-and-ladders-20100914-15azw.html?skin=text-only
  8. ↑ Green, Antony (2010-08-22). "Australia Votes 2010 - Greenway". ABC Elections (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
  9. ↑ "House of Representatives Division Macquarie". 2010 federal election. Australian Electoral Commission. 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Frank Mossfield		 Member for Greenway
2004–2010 		Succeeded by
Michelle Rowland
Preceded by
Bob Debus		 Member for Macquarie
2010–present 		Incumbent
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