John Martyr

John Martyr
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Swan
In office
13 December 1975  18 October 1980
Preceded by Adrian Bennett
Succeeded by Kim Beazley
Senator for Western Australia
In office
11 March 1981  4 February 1983
Preceded by Allan Rocher
Personal details
Born 25 May 1932
Melbourne, Victoria
Nationality Australian
Political party DLP (195674)
Liberal (197483)
Spouse(s) Doris Dent
Occupation Political consultant

John Raymond Martyr (born 25 May 1932) is a former Australian politician.

Born in Melbourne, he was a political and economic consultant before entering politics. Martyr had a long history of involvement with the Australian Labor Party from his late teens, but due to his involvement with the anti-communist Catholic "Movement" under the aegis of B. A. Santamaria, he was expelled from the ALP. He became an organiser and candidate with the Democratic Labor Party, and on 14 April 1956 married Doris Dent, a local ALP branch secretary and Police Union staffer who was also involved with the Movement. In 1962, John and Doris Martyr moved to Western Australia, where John became State Secretary of the DLP. He eventually joined the Liberal Party, and in 1975, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Swan, defeating sitting Labor member Adrian Bennett. He held the seat until his defeat by Kim Beazley in 1980.

On 11 March 1981, he was appointed to the Australian Senate to fill the casual vacancy created by the retirement of Allan Rocher. He was defeated, however, in the 1983 election.[1]

References

  1. Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Adrian Bennett
Member for Swan
1975 1980
Succeeded by
Kim Beazley