Peta Jan Murphy (1 November 1973 – 4 December 2023) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 2019 until her death in 2023, representing the Victorian seat of Dunkley for the

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 ...

(ALP).

Early life and education

Peta Jan Murphy was born in

Goulburn, New South Wales Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

, on 1 November 1973. She held Bachelor of Science (Psychology) and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, and a Master of Criminology degree from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

Early career

Prior to entering parliament, Murphy worked variously as a solicitor, barrister, Senior Public Defender at Victoria Legal Aid, Team Leader at the Victorian Law Reform Commission and as Chief of Staff to Labor Shadow Minister Brendan O'Connor MP.

Politics

Murphy first stood for Dunkley at the 2016 election on the retirement of

Bruce Billson Bruce Fredrick Billson (born 26 January 1966) is an Australian former politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a member of the House of Representatives for Dunkley, a Melbourne seat, from 1996 to 2016 and held ministerial office in the ...

, gaining a 4.1% swing but losing to Liberal candidate

Chris Crewther Christopher John Crewther (born 6 August 1983) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2016 to 2019 before being elected to the Victorian State Parliament in 2022, ...

. Murphy ran again in the 2019 election and with the benefit of an electoral redistribution that turned Dunkley from a marginal Liberal seat into a notionally marginal Labor seat, along with a further 1.7% swing, was successful, becoming the first ALP member for Dunkley since 1996 and the first woman to represent the seat. She was a member of the House of Representatives Social and Legal Affairs Committee, the House of Representative Economics Committee and the House of Representatives Select Selection Committee. Murphy was an advocate for breast screening and early diagnosis of cancer and in her maiden speech spoke of her commitment to healthcare and creating employment opportunities in Melbourne's outer suburbs. Murphy worked with Breast Cancer Network Australia to promote better treatment and understanding of cancer. Along with Lucy Wicks, former Liberal Member for

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

, Murphy established the Parliamentary Friends of Women's Health in 2021 to provide a bi-partisan platform. Murphy was re-elected with an increased margin at 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 Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

Personal life

Murphy was born in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

, New South Wales. She married Rod Glover in 1999. Murphy played softball in the National League and represented NSW, ACT, Victoria and the Mornington Peninsula at the junior and senior level for squash. She was a past winner of the Australian 35+y Masters Squash, the US 35+y Masters Squash and the gold medal winner at the World Masters Games for 35+ years squash. She was a previous President of Squash Victoria, Vice President of Squash Australia and member of the World Squash Federation Governance and Audit Committee. Murphy also served on the board of local Community Legal Centres, Peninsula Health and the Peninsula Waves. Murphy was the Patron of the Frankston City Bowls Club and the Frankston Vietnam Veterans Association.

Health and death

Murphy was first diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

in 2011, at the age of 37. The cancer recurred around the time of her being sworn in to parliament in July 2019. She died from cancer at her home in Frankston on 4 December 2023, at the age of 50. In February 2024, Prime Minister

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

opened the new "Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite" at Frankston Hospital, in honour of Murphy's contribution to cancer awareness and advocacy.https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/8508527/pm-honours-late-mp-on-dunkley-by-election-hustings/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Peta 1973 births 2023 deaths 21st-century Australian lawyers 21st-century Australian women lawyers 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian National University alumni Australian barristers Australian female squash players Deaths from breast cancer in Australia Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Labor Left politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dunkley Members of the Australian House of Representatives People from Goulburn University of Melbourne alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025