Fiona Evon Phillips (, born 18 February 1970) is an Australian politician who has been the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Gilmore in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

since the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, Phillips was re-elected over

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate

Andrew Constance Andrew James Constance (born 31 October 1973) is a former Australian politician and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Bega for the Liberal Party between 2003 and December 2021. Constance served as the New S ...

by 373 votes. Her narrow victory made Gilmore the most marginal electorate in Australia for this election.

Early life

Phillips was born on 18 February 1970 in

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

, New South Wales. She grew up on dairy farms in

Terara Terara is a suburb of Nowra in the City of Shoalhaven in New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the southern bank of the Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, A ...

and

Worrigee Worrigee is a suburb of Nowra in the City of Shoalhaven in New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country ...

, and attended Terara Public School and

Nowra High School Nowra High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in , in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1956, the school enrolled approximately 910 students in 2018, fro ...

. Her father died of heart disease when she was 21. She holds the degrees of Bachelor of Economics from the University of Newcastle and Master of Business from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. Before entering parliament Phillips worked as a senior industrial relations officer for

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it ...

(1991–1995), human resources officer for the

City of Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses t ...

(1996–1997), placement coordinator for the Shoalhaven Schools Workplace Learning Program (1997–2002), lecturer at TAFE NSW (2002–2017), commerce tutor at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

(2002–2015), and business operations manager in the Navy Aviation Systems Program Office at HMAS Albatross (2007–2009).

Politics

Phillips became involved in politics as part of a campaign to save a local swimming pool. After joining the ALP she served as president of the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

state electoral council and as a member of the state administrative committee and

Country Labor The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

committee. She also worked as an electorate officer for Stephen Jones from 2016 to 2017. Phillips unsuccessfully stood for the ALP in South Coast at the 2015 state election and in Gilmore at the 2016 federal election. She was elected in Gilmore at the 2019 election with a

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

swing of just over 3 points, defeating the high-profile

candidate

Warren Mundine Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and politician. He was the National President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but quit the party in 2012. Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government's Indig ...

after the retirement of the incumbent Liberal MP

Ann Sudmalis Ann Elizabeth Sudmalis (''née'' Hardinge; born 16 September 1955) is a former Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Gilmore in New South Wales, from September 20 ...

. Phillips is a member of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

faction.

References

Living people 1970 births Labor Left politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gilmore Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni People from Nowra University of New South Wales alumni University of Wollongong faculty {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub