Taylor Mitchell Martin is an Australian politician. He has been a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

since 3 May 2017, and was re-elected at the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

. Martin is an active member and volunteer with

Surf Life Saving Australia Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is an Australian not-for-profit community organisation that promotes water safety and provides surf rescue services. SLSA strives to create a safe environment on Australia's beaches and coastline through patro ...

Early life

Martin grew up on the New South Wales Central Coast. He was the first member of his family to study at university, studying Finance, Commerce, and Economics at University of Newcastle. During his time there, Martin became the Treasurer of the University Finance Club. Martin got his start in politics after a chance meeting with then candidate for the Federal

Division of Robertson The Division of Robertson is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined since 1984, at redistributions by a redistribution committee appo ...

, Lucy Wicks, becoming a member of the Liberal Party soon after. Martin has previous worked at the firm Mercer Financial Services, his family's kitchen fabrication business, and as an advisor to Federal MP Lucy Wicks.

Political career

Martin was preselected by the Liberal Party to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the resignation of

Mike Gallacher Michael Joseph Gallacher (born 27 September 1961 in Paisley, Scotland), an Australian politician, was the Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the O'Farrell government and Baird governmen ...

, and subsequently was elected as the youngest member of the

. Elected at the age of 26, Martin is the youngest member of the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

. Martin was re-elected at the

, and is currently serving an eight-year term set to expire in 2027. In Martin's inaugural speech he highlighted small business support, bullying, and domestic violence as his priority policy areas. He also spoke on the emergence of technology and its impact on future regulation and jobs. Martin has been appointed to and chaired a number of committees since his election, being the Public Works Committee, Select Committee on Electricity Supply, Demand and Prices in New South Wales, Portfolio Committee No. 1 - Premier and Finance, Standing Committee on State Development, Portfolio Committee No. 6 - Planning and Environment, Committee on the Ombudsman, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and the Crime Commission, and Portfolio Committee No. 3 – Education. In July 2023 it was revealed that former federal Liberal MP Lucy Wicks, with whom Martin had previously been in a relationship, had lodged a complaint to the Liberal Party against Martin, which included allegations that she was "physically threatened and received hundreds of demeaning, degrading, and abusive texts" from him. Martin was subsequently stood aside from the party room pending an independent investigation by senior counsel. https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/politics/exmp-lucy-wicks-distressed-after-identity-leaked-over-complaint-against-taylor-martin/news-story/39e497406fc584c6957a620b1c76a646

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Taylor Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian politicians