Louise Elizabeth Markus (born 6 September 1958) is a former

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n politician who served as a member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

, initially elected to represent the seat of

Greenway Greenway or Greenways may refer to: * Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path * Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions * European Greenways Association, an association for sustainable transport Peopl ...

western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

for the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

at the 2004 federal election. Following an unfavourable redistribution in 2010, she moved to the seat of Macquarie. She lost the 2016 federal election to Labor's

Susan Templeman Susan Raye Templeman (born 30 July 1963) is an Australian politician. She is the member for Macquarie in the Australian House of Representatives and is Australia's Special Envoy for the Arts. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party and de ...

Early years and background

She was educated at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, graduating in social work, and was a community worker running the

Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centr ...

's drug and alcohol outreach service in

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prior to entering politics.

Political career

Subsequent to the 2004 election, unsubstantiated allegations were made in the

NSW Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wale ...

under

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

that Markus had directly benefited from unauthorised campaign materials containing false statements in an attempt to capture anti-Islamic sentiment against her Labor opponent. These allegations were not supported as the basis for his loss by the Labor candidate nor supported by contemporary media coverage. At the 2007 federal election, Markus retained the seat of Greenway with a comfortable margin, although with a nominal swing of 6.85 points against her on a two-party-preferred basis. Following the election, Markus was appointed as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship, but did not retain the position in a 2010 reorganisation of the shadow ministry. She was previously the Shadow Minister for Veteran's Affairs. A September 2006 redistribution of boundaries saw massive changes in the shape of her electorate of Greenway. 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%. 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 In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Nati ...

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. The

2013 federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal ...

was marked by widespread swings towards the Liberal Party in western 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 her support being in the more urban northern and eastern portions of the electorate. At the 2016 federal election, the incumbent Markus lost the seat of Macquarie to three-time challenger,

. Activist group

GetUp! GetUp! is an independent progressive Australian political activist group. It was launched in August 2005 to encourage Internet activism in Australia, though it has increasingly engaged in offline community organising. GetUp! is an independen ...

claimed to have played a significant role in the outcome as they targeted Markus in a direct electoral campaign. This included the distribution of how to vote material favouring Green and Labor candidates.

Personal

Markus lives in Riverstone. She is married to Jim Markus, who is from Papua New Guinea; together they have two children.

References

External links

Louise Markus MP – Official website

Louise Markus they vote for YOU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markus, Louise 1958 births Living people Politicians from Sydney Australian social workers 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 Greenway Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie University of New South Wales alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian MPs 2004–2007 Australian MPs 2007–2010 Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016