Melissa Iris McIntosh (; born 24 August 1977) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and was elected to 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 ...

at the 2019 federal election, running in the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

seat of Lindsay.

Early life

McIntosh was born on 24 August 1977 in

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

. Her father Edmund Grah immigrated to Australia in the late 1950s from

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Austria. His parents and sister had been killed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. McIntosh studied journalism, public relations and video production at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

, graduating with the degree of

Bachelor of Communications A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

Career

McIntosh began working in politics after graduating university, working as an aide to arts and sport minister

Jackie Kelly Jacqueline Marie Kelly (born 18 February 1964) is a former Australian politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until November 2007, representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wales ...

and later in the office of Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

. From 2011 to 2015, she worked at the

United States Studies Centre The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney aims to increase understanding of the United States in Australia and enrich the Australia–United States relations, Australia–United States relationship. The centre teaches undergr ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

as head of partnerships and director of events. She then served as chief of staff to Assistant Treasurer

Alex Hawke Alexander George Hawke (born 9 July 1977) is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs from 2020 to 2022 in the Morrison Government. Hawke has served as Member of Pa ...

until 2016, when she joined Wentworth Community Housing as executive manager (communications). Prior to her election to parliament, McIntosh was a vice-president of the

Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division) The Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division), commonly known as the New South Wales Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition wi ...

and a member of the state executive. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Fourth Ward of the

Blue Mountains City Council The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains range west of Sydney. The Mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is coun ...

in 2016. McIntosh is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party.

Member of Parliament

In November 2018, McIntosh won Liberal

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

for the

Division of Lindsay The Division of Lindsay is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Ever since Lindsay was first contested at the 1984 Australian federal election, 1984 federal ele ...

. She was elected to the

at the 2019 federal election, defeating

Australian Labor Party 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 ...

(ALP) candidate

Diane Beamer Diane Beamer (born 15 July 1960) is an Australians, Australian politician. As an Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly, sh ...

, who had defeated the incumbent ALP member

Emma Husar Emma Husar (born 20 April 1980) is a former Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Lindsay, which she represented from 2016 to 2019. During an internal investigation and media reports ...

for preselection.

Personal life

McIntosh has three children with her husband

Stuart McIntosh Stuart McIntosh (born 8 June 1975 in London) is a British slalom canoeist who competed in the 1990s and 2000s. He won a bronze medal in the C1 team event at the 2006 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Prague and two more bronze medals a ...

, a former Olympic canoeist. They met at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. She has sometimes used the name "Melissa Grah-McIntosh".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, Melissa 1977 births Living people 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 Lindsay Australian people of Austrian descent Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian public relations people Western Sydney University alumni