Susan Templeman

Susan Templeman MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Macquarie
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 July 2016 (2016-07-02)
Preceded by	Louise Markus
Personal details
Born	(1963-07-30) 30 July 1963 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Ron Fuller[1]
Children	Two (a son and a daughter)[1]
Alma mater	University of Technology, Sydney
Profession	Journalist[1]
Website	susantempleman.com.au

Susan Raye Templeman (born 30 July 1963) is an Australian politician. She is the member for Macquarie in the Australian House of Representatives. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party and defeated the Liberal Louise Markus at the 2016 federal election.^[2] Templeman had previously run twice for the same seat, in 2010 and 2013.^[2]

Just two months after her defeat in the 2013 Australian Federal Election Templeman’s family home in Winmalee was destroyed in the 2013 Blue Mountains bushfires.^[1]

At the 2016 election, Templeman defeated Louise Markus, winning the Division of Macquarie with a 6.7% two-party preferred swing towards her.^[3] On primary votes, Templeman saw a 4.5% swing towards her.^[3] Reasons for the increased support included her stance on issues such as opposition to the Western Sydney Airport and support for road infrastructure in the City of Hawkesbury, including a third bridge over the Nepean River.^[4]

Early life and education

Templeman was born in Sydney, the daughter of an accountant father and public school music teacher mother. The family owned a newsagency in Strathfield, with Templeman regularly working the morning paper run with her parents.^[5] Templeman credits her upbringing in the newsagency for her becoming a journalist.

Templeman attended Killara High School, and then later Strathfield Girls High School. She spent the final year of her secondary education at Colegio Mochis in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico as a Rotary exchange student. Templeman stated that the exchange:

"Opened my eyes to the world and to the challenges of inequality and discrimination in a way my seven public schools had not."^[6]

Templeman graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

Career

Journalist

Templeman began her career in January 1985, during the second Hawke term, as a journalist in the Canberra Press Gallery, at Old Parliament House. At the time she was the youngest permanent journalist in the press gallery. She covered the 1987 election campaign.^[6]

In 1988, Templeman and her husband moved to New York, and then London working as radio journalist foreign correspondents for both 2UE and Austero. Templeman then became the News Editor for the London Broadcasting Corporation, before moving back to Australia to work as the Media Relations officer for Telstra (then Telecom). ^[7]

In 1991, Templeman and her husband became media trainers, running the company Templeman Consulting. Templeman later partnered with other media trainers, becoming the principal trainer at Media Skills. Templeman has been described as "one of Australia's most successful media trainers".^[8]

Political career

Templeman joined the Labor Party during John Howard's government. Describing her reasons for joining the Party, Templeman said:

"I could not sit by and see Australia becoming a backwards-looking and defensive society. Apparently, we no longer cared about being a republic or about Aboriginal reconciliation. We moved away from inclusion and we distanced ourselves from Asia. That was not the Australia I wanted for my children. So I joined the Labor Party, with no clear ambition other than to help get rid of John Howard. Not a bad one."^[6]

After a factionally-driven preselection between Templeman and then Blue Mountains Mayor, Adam Searle, Templeman was pre-selected as the Labor candidate for Macquarie at the 2010 Federal Election. Templeman faced off against the then Member for Greenway, Louise Markus. Templeman lost, carrying 48.74% of the vote, making Macquarie one of the most marginal electorates in the country.^[9]

Templeman was pre-selected again in 2013, suffering a 3.32% swing against her. She was pre-selected for a third time in 2016. At the 2016 election, Templeman defeated the incumbent Louise Markus, winning the Division of Macquarie with a 6.7% two-party preferred swing towards her.^[3] On primary votes, Templeman saw a 4.5% swing towards her.^[3]

Templeman is a member of the Labor Party's Socialist Left faction.

On 1 September 2016, Templeman was appointed to the high-profile Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.^[6] Templeman is a member of the Joint Standing Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings, and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts.^[10]

Political views

Marriage equality

Templeman is a supporter of marriage equality and LGBTIQ+ rights.^[11]

Australian Republic

Templeman is an avid supporter of the Australian Republican Movement, citing the push for Australia to become a republic as one of the driving forces for her membership of the Australian Labor Party.^[6]

Women's rights

Templeman is a member of EMILY's List Australia, an organisation dedicated to the election of Labor women.^[12] On February 7, 2017, Templeman gave a speech in the Federation Chamber attacking U.S. President Donald Trump's reinstatement of the Global gag rule, stopping the flow of aid to organisations providing counselling or funding to women seeking abortions. Templeman said:

We probably all saw the photo of 10 men and a lone woman as the President signed the decree. The irony that this is a decision by men on what rights a woman has is striking. The consequences of this legislation every time a Republican President reinstates it, as George W Bush did, is that women's health clinics close, contraceptive suppliers wither and abortion rates skyrocket. In other words, women and their families suffer. Is that really what these men want? I hope not.^[13]

Personal life

Templeman lives in the Blue Mountains with her husband, Ron Fuller. In 2013, Templeman’s family home in Winmalee was destroyed in the 2013 Blue Mountains bushfires.^[1]

She has two children - a son and a daughter. In her inaugural speech, Templeman spoke about her daughter's battles with mental illness, and how it had been a transformative experience for her entire family.

A former board director of Family Planning NSW and Sexual Health Australia, Templeman was the P&C President of her children's high school, Winmalee High.

Templeman speaks fluent Spanish.

References