Louise Elizabeth Markus (born 6 September 1958) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n politician who served as 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 Macquarie may refer to: People * Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. * Elizabeth Macquarie Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie's second wife Locations * Division of Macquarie, an electoral district in th ...

. She lost the 2016 federal election to Labor's

Susan Templeman Susan Raye Templeman (born 30 July 1963) is an Australian politician. She is the member for Macquarie in the Australian House of Representatives and is Australia's Special Envoy for the Arts. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party and de ...

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 Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a global Evangelical charismatic movement, charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia. The original church was established in 1983 as Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New ...

's drug and alcohol outreach service in Blacktown prior to entering politics.

Political career

Subsequent to the 2004 election, unsubstantiated allegations were made in the

NSW Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New S ...

under

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

that Markus had directly benefited from unauthorised campaign materials containing false statements in an attempt to capture anti-Islamic sentiment against her Labor opponent. These allegations were not supported as the basis for his loss by the Labor candidate nor supported by contemporary media coverage. At the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

, Markus retained the seat of Greenway with a comfortable margin, although with a nominal swing of 6.85 points against her on a two-party-preferred basis. Following the election, Markus was appointed as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship, but did not retain the position in a 2010 reorganisation of the shadow ministry. She was previously the Shadow Minister for Veteran's Affairs. A September 2006 redistribution of boundaries saw massive changes in the shape of her electorate of Greenway. The northward shift in electorate boundaries also saw Greenway change from marginal Liberal to safe Liberal. A further electoral redistribution in 2009 made the seat of Greenway notionally Labor on an estimated margin of 5.7%. Markus contested the 2010 federal election as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Macquarie, which had absorbed a fraction of her former electorate base. Markus won the two-party-preferred vote by 2.52 points 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. The 2013 federal election was marked by widespread swings towards the Liberal Party in western Sydney. In this context, Markus further extended her margin, winning with a primary vote of 47.4% and a two-party-preferred vote of 54.5%. As before, the electorate demonstrated a marked polarity, with her support being in the more urban northern and eastern portions of the electorate. At the 2016 federal election, the incumbent Markus lost the seat of Macquarie to three-time challenger,

. Activist group GetUp! claimed to have played a significant role in the outcome as they targeted Markus in a direct electoral campaign. This included the distribution of how to vote material favouring Green and Labor candidates.

Personal

Markus lives in Riverstone. She is married to Jim Markus, who is from Papua New Guinea; together they have two children.

References

External links

Louise Markus MP – Official website

Louise Markus they vote for YOU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markus, Louise 1958 births Living people Politicians from Sydney Australian social workers Social workers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Greenway Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie University of New South Wales alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians