Marlene Kairouz (born 2 March 1975) is an Australian former politician. She was a

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 ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

between 2008 and 2022, representing the

electoral district of Kororoit The electoral district of Kororoit is an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Assembly covering Albanvale, Caroline Springs as well as some parts of Deer Park and St Albans in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The seat was created prior ...

. She was the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation between 2016 and 2020.

Political career

Kairouz was first elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 2008 Kororoit by-election, triggered by the resignation of former minister Andre Haermeyer. Prior to entering state politics she had been elected to the City of Darebin in 1998, serving as mayor from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2006 to 2007. Kairouz was an official with the Victorian branch of the Shop Assistants' Union from 2004, and was promoted to become an organiser in 2005 before her election to Parliament. Kairouz has been a state and national

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

conference delegate, and previously served as the Junior Vice-president of the Victorian ALP. In June 2016, she was appointed to the

First Andrews Ministry The First Andrews ministry was the 69th ministry of the Government of Victoria. The Labor Government, led by the Premier, Daniel Andrews, and Deputy Premier, James Merlino, was officially sworn in on 4 December 2014, following the 2014 sta ...

as Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation. In September 2017, she was appointed as the Minister for Local Government. In November 2018, she retained her consumer affairs, gaming and liquor regulation portfolio in the Second Andrews Ministry, and was also appointed Minister for Suburban Development.

Racism controversy

In October 2017, Kairouz was embroiled in a controversy regarding her advice not to open doors to

Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...

, following claims that a spate of thefts were being caused by travelling con artists with Irish accents. She issued an apology on Twitter. The incident received widespread media coverage in Australia and Ireland.

Branch-stacking allegations

In June 2020, an adviser working for Kairouz was alleged to have facilitated branch-stacking. The adviser is alleged to have obtained money from

Adem Somyurek Adem Kubilay Somyurek (born 25 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council currently representing the Northern Metropolitan Region. Somyurek was a member of the Australian Labor P ...

in order to purchase party memberships. Kairouz has rejected claims she was involved, and the matter has been referred to

IBAC Ibac is a supervillain featured in American comic book, American comic books published by Fawcett Comics and DC Comics. Primarily, versions of the character serve as parallels to Captain Marvel/Shazam and Black Adam, sharing significant histories ...

and Victoria Police. She resigned from the cabinet on 16 June 2020. She was a person of interest in the

investigation, Operation Watts.

References

External links

Parliament of Victoria biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kairouz, Marlene 1975 births 21st-century mayors of places in Australia 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian people of Lebanese descent Labor Right politicians Living people Mayors of places in Victoria (state) Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly RMIT University alumni Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Women mayors of places in Victoria (state) Ministers for casino, gaming and liquor regulation (Victoria) Ministers for consumer affairs (Victoria) Ministers for local government (Victoria)