Phillip Anthony Barresi (born 8 August 1955) is a former Australian politician. He was 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 ...

from 1996 to 2007, representing the Victorian seat of Deakin for 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 ...

. Prior to entering politics he was a registered psychologist and worked in human resources and industrial relations.

Early life

Barresi was born on 8 August 1955 in

Patti, Sicily Patti is a town and ''comune'' in northeastern Sicily, southern Italy, administratively part of the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the western shore of the gulf of the same name. It is located from Messina. It is connected to the rest of Sic ...

, Italy. He spent his earliest years in the town of Falcone, arriving in Australia in 1960. He holds the degree of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and a graduate diploma in applied

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

from Swinburne Institute of Technology. Barresi became a registered psychologist. Before entering politics he worked as a training officer with

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

, as a human resources and industrial relations manager, and as a consultant.

Politics

Barresi served as president of the Liberal Party's

Boroondara The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn. It has an area of ...

branch from 1992 to 1995. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1996 federal election, retaining the

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

for the Liberals. In his maiden speech he acknowledged that he was the first Italian-born Coalition MP. Barresi was a member of the

speaker's panel The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the upper house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was ...

from 2004 to 2004 and again from 2006 to 2007. He was also chair of the Standing Committee on Employment, Workplace Relations and Workforce Participation from 2004 to 2007. He was a prominent supporter of the Howard Government's

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choice ...

legislation. At the 2007 election, Barresi was defeated by

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 t ...

(ALP) candidate Mike Symon. He reprised his candidacy against Symon at the 2010 election but was again defeated.

Later life

In 2008 he was appointed national employment relations director for the Australian Retailers Association. In 2019, 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 ...

appointed Barresi to a five-year term on the board of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation.

References

External links

Personal website
1955 births Living people Australian people of Sicilian descent 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 Deakin Australian politicians of Italian descent 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub