Fiona Barbouttis Martin (born 16 November 1977) is a former Australian

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 l ...

politician who was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Reid at the 2019 federal election. She lost her seat to Labor MP

Sally Sitou Sally Sitou ( Chinese: 陳莎莉) is an Australian politician who is the Labor member for the Division of Reid as of the 2022 Australian federal election. She defeated the incumbent Liberal member, Fiona Martin Fiona Barbouttis Martin (bor ...

at the 2022 federal election after a single term in office.

Early years and background

Martin is the daughter of Kathleen and George Barbouttis. Her parents and maternal grandparents were born in Australia, while her paternal grandparents were Greek migrants to Australia from the island of Kastellorizo. Martin grew up in Campsie, Earlwood and Concord West, attending Santa Sabina College in

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A smal ...

and then Rosebank College in Five Dock. Martin graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

with a doctorate in psychology, and owned a psychology practice that has rooms in

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local gov ...

and

Gladesville Gladesville is a suburb in the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gladesville is located 10 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryd ...

. Her PhD thesis was titled "Self-understanding in high-functioning males with autism spectrum disorders: relationship with social functioning and theory of mind".

Political career

In mid-March 2019, the then member for Reid Craig Laundy announced that he would not be standing at the 2019 election. Early the following month, Martin was nominated for the seat by the Liberal Party, being described as a "captain's pick" of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and she subsequently won the seat at the 2019 federal election. From 2019 to the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth cons ...

, Reid was the federal coalition government's most marginal seat in NSW. Martin is a member of the Moderate/Modern Liberal faction of the Liberal Party. On 10 February 2022, Martin

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

with four other Liberal MPs to include protection for transgender students in the government's modifications to the Sex Discrimination Act. In April 2022,

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

published accusations against Martin, including that she allegedly employed a former babysitter in a taxpayer-funded role worth up to $90,000 a year despite them having no political experience, and that her office allegedly experienced ‘a mass exodus of 15 staff members’ from 2019 to 2022. On 11 May 2022, Martin participated in a debate with the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate for Reid Sally Sitou, during the debate Martin accused Sitou of failing to win preselection in Fowler. This led to criticism of Martin as she appeared to confuse Sitou who is Asian-Australian with Tu Le, who failed to win preselection in Fowler. Martin denies that she mixed the two up. Days after Martin’s defeat it was revealed that she was the only defeated Liberal Party MP that

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

did not call to offer his condolences. Martin said that she ‘got the sense he (Morrison) wanted me gone.’ Martin also speculated that it was either ‘Morrison’s (factional) camp’ or ‘conservative branches’ that leaked details of her office turnover to the conservative press, which she described as a ‘hit job.’

Personal life

Martin is married to Nicolai Clausen, who was a Danish citizen at the time of their marriage. Martin has four children. She lives with her family in Ryde. Martin was one of eleven MPs in the

46th Parliament of Australia The 46th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The 2019 federal election gave the Coalition of th ...

who possessed a PhD, the others being Katie Allen,

Jim Chalmers James Edward Chalmers (born 2 March 1978) is an Australian politician, currently serving as Treasurer of Australia since 23 May 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served as a member of parliament for the divisi ...

Anne Aly Anne Azza Aly (born Azza Mahmoud Fawzi Hosseini Ali el Serougi, 1967) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor member of the House of Representatives since the 2016 election, representing the electorate of Cowan in Western Australia ...

Andrew Leigh Andrew Keith Leigh (born 3 August 1972) is an Australian politician, author, lawyer and former professor of economics at the Australian National University. He currently serves as the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. ...

Daniel Mulino Daniel Mulino (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the Eastern Victoria Region from 2014 to 2018. In the 2019 federal election he was elected as the inau ...

Jess Walsh Jessica Cecille Walsh (born 16 May 1971) is an Australian politician and trade unionist. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served as a Senator for Victoria since 2019. Prior to her election to parliament she was the sta ...

Adam Bandt Adam Paul Bandt (born 11 March 1972) is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer who is the leader of the Australian Greens and federal MP for Melbourne. Previously, he served as co-deputy leader of the Greens from 2012 to 2015 and ...

, Mehreen Faruqi,

Anne Webster Anne Elizabeth Webster (née Smithers; born 19 May 1959) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election. She is a member of the National Party and represents the Division of Mal ...

and

Helen Haines Helen Mary Haines (born 21 September 1961) is an Australian politician who has served as the independent MP for the Victorian seat of Indi since the 2019 federal election. Early life and education Haines grew up on a dairy farm in Colac in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Fiona 1977 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Politicians from Sydney University of Sydney alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Reid Members of the Australian House of Representatives Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian people of Greek descent Australian psychologists Australian women psychologists 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians

Early years and background

Political career

Personal life

See also

References