Martin Peter Foley (born 17 May 1962) is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

between 2007 and 2022, representing Albert Park. He was the Minister for Equality in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and Second Andrews Ministry between December 2014 and June 2022 and the Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services between September 2020 and June 2022. He was previously the Minister for Mental Health and Minister for Creative Industries prior to September 2020.

Early life

Foley was born in Mornington. He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (history and politics) in 1987 from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

and received a Master of Commerce in 2000 from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

. From 1988–2003, he worked with the Australian Services Union before becoming chief of staff to the state Minister for Agriculture. In 2006, he became Chief of Staff to the Minister for Police.

Political career

In 2007