Louise Markus

Louise Markus MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Macquarie
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 August 2010
Preceded by	Bob Debus
Member of the Australian Parliament for Greenway
In office 9 October 2004 – 21 August 2010
Preceded by	Frank Mossfield
Succeeded by	Michelle Rowland
Personal details
Born	6 September 1958 Epping, Sydney Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Jim Markus
Children	Joshua and Hannah
Alma mater	University of New South Wales
Profession	Social worker
Religion	Assemblies of God in Australia
Website	www.louisemarkus.com.au

Louise Elizabeth Markus (born 6 September 1958), Australian federal politician, is a member of the Australian House of Representatives, initially elected to represent the seat of Greenway in western Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election. Following an unfavourable redistribution in 2010, she moved to the seat of Macquarie.

Early years and background

She was educated at the University of New South Wales, graduating in social work, and was a community worker running the Hillsong Church's drug and alcohol outreach service in Blacktown prior to entering politics.^[1]

She is married to Jim Markus, who is from Papua New Guinea;^[2] together they have two children.

Political career

Subsequent to the 2004 election, unsubstantiated allegations were made in the NSW State Parliament under Parliamentary privilege that Mrs Markus had directly benefited from unauthorised campaign materials containing false statements in an attempt to capture anti-Islamic sentiment against her Labor opponent.^[3] These allegations were not supported as the basis for his loss by the Labor Candidate^[4] nor supported by contemporary media coverage.^[5]

Markus retained the seat of Greenway with a comfortable margin in the 2007 election, although with a nominal swing of 6.85 points against her on a two-party-preferred basis.^[6]

Following the 2007 election, she was made Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship, but lost the position in 2010.^[7] She was previously the Shadow Minister for Veteran's Affairs.

She lives in Riverstone, outside her electorate of Macquarie. A September 2006 redistribution of boundaries saw massive changes in the shape of her electorate of Greenway being centred on the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains rather than Blacktown. The northward shift in electorate boundaries also saw Greenway change from marginal Liberal to safe Liberal. A further electoral redistribution in 2009 made the seat of Greenway notionally Labor on an estimated margin of 5.7%.^[8]

Markus contested the 2010 federal election as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Macquarie, which had absorbed a fraction of her former electorate base. Markus won the Two-party-preferred vote by 2.52 points against Labor, with most support in her traditional base in the urban east of the electorate, and high Greens votes in the smaller upper Blue Mountains booths.^[9] The 2013 federal election was marked by widespread swings towards the Liberal Party in west Sydney. In this context, Markus further extended her margin, winning with a primary vote of 47.4% and a two-party-preferred vote of 54.5%. As before, the electorate demonstrated a marked polarity, with the her support being in the more urban northern and eastern portions of the electorate.^[10]

External links

• Louise Markus MP – Official website

References

1. "Mrs Louise Markus MP". House of Representatives – Members. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
2. "Maiden Speech – Mrs Louise Markus MP". House of Representatives – Members. extracted from the Parliament of Australia. 17 November 2004. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
3. "Religious Freedom". NSW Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 27 October 2004. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
4. Husic, Ed (20 October 2005). "Religion was used as a weapon". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-08-09.
5. Sheehan, Paul (27 September 2004). "Candidate's silence could speak volumes". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-08-09.
6. "House of Representatives Division First Preferences – Greenway". 2007 federal election. Australian Electoral Commission. 2007. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
7. The Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/national/turnbull-takes-key-spot-in-game-of-snakes-and-ladders-20100914-15azw.html?skin=text-only. Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. Green, Antony (22 August 2010). "Australia Votes 2010 – Greenway". ABC Elections (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 2010-08-22.
9. "House of Representatives Division Macquarie". 2010 federal election. Australian Electoral Commission. 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
10. "House of Representatives Division Macquarie". 2013 federal election. Australian Electoral Commission. 2013. Retrieved 2014-11-10.