Martin Aldridge (born 1982) is an Australian politician. He is a member of The Nationals WA and serves as a Member for the Agricultural region in the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

.The Nationals for Regional WA: Hon Martin Aldridge MLC
He was elected to State Parliament on 5 April 2013, following the resignation of

Mia Davies Mia Jane Davies (born 3 November 1978) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition and leader of the National Party in Western Australia. She has been a member of the state Legislative Assembly since 2013, having pr ...

.MP Historical Data
/ref> Prior to this election, Aldridge worked as a farmer, a firefighter, a small business owner, and was the chief of staff to Federal Member for the

Division of O'Connor The Division of O'Connor is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. It is one of Western Australia's three rural seats, and one of the largest electoral constituencies in the world. Geography Since 1984, federal el ...

Tony Crook.

Early life

Aldridge was born in

Byford, Western Australia Byford is a suburb on the south-eastern edge of Perth, Western Australia, and has its origins in a township that was gazetted under the name "Beenup" in 1906. "Beenup", a corruption of the Aboriginal name associated with nearby Beenyup Brook, w ...

in 1982 to farmers Martin and Roxanne Aldridge. At the age of seven, Aldridge moved to

Gingin, Western Australia Gingin is a town in Western Australia, located on the Brand Highway north of the Perth city centre. It is the council seat for the Shire of Gingin local government area. Gingin had a population of 852 at the . The town's economy is mostly base ...

, where he attended Gingin District High School (Years 2-10) before attending Central Midlands Senior High School in

Moora, Western Australia Moora is a townsite located 177 km north of Perth in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Moora was one of the original stations on the Midland railway line to Walkaway, and the townsite was gazetted in 1895. At the , Moora had a p ...

for his senior schooling, where he was also Head Boy. While in Moora, Aldridge was a boarder at St James Residential College (also known as the Moora Residential College).Martin Aldridge MLC Inaugural Speech
/ref> Prior to entering Parliament he was a farmer, small Business Owner, senior Fire-fighter (Fire and Rescue Service of WA), a Ministerial Adviser, MP Chief of Staff and the State Director of The Nationals WA.

Firefighting career

Following a serious flooding event in Moora in March, 1999, Aldridge became involved with local emergency services groups and joined the Gingin Fire and Rescue Service as a volunteer. At the age of 18, he was elected as brigade captain. He spent the next six years as a career firefighter, primarily at the

Belmont, Western Australia Belmont is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located east of Perth's central business district (CBD) on the southern bank of the Swan River. Its local government area is the City of Belmont. The suburb, part ...

fire station.

Political career

Aldridge first became involved with The Nationals WA in the early 2000s as a member of the

Young Nationals (Australia) The Young Nationals is the youth division of the National Party of Australia, with membership open to those between 15 and 35 years of age. Young Nationals also have full party membership, and partake in state and federal conferences with equal ...

. He served as a policy adviser to the Minister for Regional Development; Lands and later as the State Director of The Nationals WA. In 2008, he was selected to run for the Legislative Council seat of the Agricultural Region. Following the election of Tony Crook to the Federal Division of O'Connor, Aldridge was appointed as Crook's Chief of Staff. In 2012, Aldridge was again selected to represent The Nationals WA in the Legislative Council Seat of the Agricultural Region. The Agricultural Region includes the Legislative Assembly electorates of Central Wheatbelt, Geraldton, Moore, and Roe, an area of 281,264 sq.km. During the lead up to the election, Agricultural Region MP

resigned to contest the

Electoral district of Central Wheatbelt Central Wheatbelt is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia. As the name suggests, the district is centrally located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Politically, Central ...

, and Aldridge was elected to fill the vacant position on 5 April 2013. He was re-elected at the

2013 Western Australian state election The 2013 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 9 March 2013 to elect 59 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Western Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Counci ...

for a term commencing 22 May 2013. On 19 March, Aldridge was appointed as the Secretary for the Parliamentary National Party. He has also served as a Member on the Standing Committee on Estimates and Financial Operations (22 May 2013 – 17 August 2015); the Joint Standing Committee on Audit (13 June 2013 – 17 August 2015) and the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges (February 2015 – present). During the 2013 State election campaign, Aldridge advocated strongly for the introduction of the Regional Emergency Services Fuel Card Schem
Regional Emergency Services Fuel Card
which was introduced on 14 September 2015.Fuel card rollout for regional volunteers
/ref> Aldridge was again re-elected at the 11 March 2017 election for a term commencing 22 May 2017 to represent The Nationals WA in the Legislative Council Seat of the Agricultural Region. On 26 April 2017, Aldridge was appointed as The Nationals WA Whip in the Legislative Council. He has also served as a Member on the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges (17 February 2015 - 21 May 2017) and was re-appointed 23 May 2017 – present. He also serves as a Member on the Parliamentary Services Committee (23 May 2017 – present).

Personal life

Alridge has two sons and a daughter to his partner, Dale Spark.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Martin 1982 births Living people Politicians from Perth, Western Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council 21st-century Australian politicians