Nola Bethwyn Marino (née Catalano; born 18 February 1954) is an Australian politician who has been a member of 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 2007, representing the

Division of Forrest The Division of Forrest is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. 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 served as the Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories from 2019 until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. Marino previously served as

Chief Government Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

from 2015 to 2019.

Early life

Marino was born in

Harvey, Western Australia Harvey is a town located in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, south of Perth, between Pinjarra and Bunbury. It has a population of 2,750. Harvey Town is known for its dairy industry and oranges. History Har ...

, and grew up in Brunswick Junction. Her father was born in the United States, while her paternal grandparents were born in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

; her maternal grandfather was born in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

, Sweden. In 1972, she married Carmelo "Charlie" Marino, an Italian immigrant. During the

Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

, it was suggested that she might be a dual citizen of Italy through her marriage. She subsequently released a statement from the Italian consulate in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

stating that she "is not nor has ever been an Italian citizen". Before entering politics, Marino ran a dairy farm with her husband. From 2001 to 2007, she served on the board of Dairy Western Australia, an industry lobby group. She also served as president of the Harvey Bulls Football Club for ten years. In 2017, the

South West Football League The South West Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the South West (Western Australia), south-west of Western Australia. The league is affiliated to the West Australian Country Football League. History The idea of cr ...

announced that it would name the

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award in its women's competition the Nola Marino Medal.

Politics

Marino was elected to parliament at the 2007 federal election, succeeding the retiring

Geoff Prosser Geoffrey Daniel Prosser (born 6 November 1948) is an Australian businessman and former politician. He served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, L ...

in the

. She is the first woman to represent the electorate, which was established in 1922. In February 2008, Marino was appointed by

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is a business leader and former Australian politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NA ...

as one of the party

whips A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

in the House of Representatives, serving alongside Michael Johnson and Chief Whip

Alex Somlyay Alexander Michael Somlyay (born 18 January 1946), Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1990 to August 2013, representing the Division of Fairfax, Queensland. Born in Budapest, he ca ...

. Marino reportedly supported

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

in the 2015 leadership spill against

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

. Turnbull subsequently appointed her Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives, in place of Scott Buchholz. She was the first woman to hold the office. In the lead-up to the 2016 federal election, Marino was challenged for 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 ...

Ben Small Benjamin Small is a British voice actor who has acted on animated films and television shows, including Thomas the Tank Engine and Toby the Tram Engine in the UK dub of the children's television series ''Thomas & Friends''. Career Small voice ...

, the president of the party's Bunbury branch. She won the vote 51–16, with Turnbull sending a letter of support. After the 2019 federal election, Marino was appointed Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories in the

Morrison Government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

. She consequently relinquished her position as whip. She held the position until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. Marino is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marino, Nola 1954 births Abbott Government Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Forrest People from Harvey, Western Australia Turnbull Government Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian people of Sicilian descent Australian people of American descent Australian people of Swedish descent