Fiona Martin

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Dr Fiona Martin

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| constituency_MP1 = Reid

| parliament1 = Australian

| majority1 =

| predecessor1 = Craig Laundy

| successor1 = Sally Sitou

| term_start1 = 18 May 2019

| term_end1 = 21 May 2022

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|11|16|df=yes}}{{cite web |title=Fiona Martin: Candidate checklist and additional documentation |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/election/files/data/qc/24310_NSW_H_REID_33332_MAR.pdf |via=Australian Electoral Commission |access-date=20 May 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102144309/https://www.aec.gov.au/election/files/data/qc/24310_NSW_H_REID_33332_MAR.pdf }}

| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

| birth_name = Fiona Barbouttis

| parents = George & Kathleen Barbouttis

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Australian

| party = Liberal (until 2024)

| education = Santa Sabina College and Rosebank College

| alma_mater = University of Sydney

| profession = Psychologist

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Dr Fiona Barbouttis Martin (born 16 November 1977) is an Australian psychologist and former politician who served as the Member for Reid from 2019, becoming the first woman to represent the seat. She was defeated for re-election in 2022 by Labor's Sally Sitou.

Before being elected, Martin was an educational and developmental psychologist and small business owner. During her term in Parliament, she chaired the first ever Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Select Committee and made national headlines for being one of five Liberal MPs to vote against the Government in favour of an amendment strengthening protections for vulnerable young people from the LGBTQIA+ community.

After her defeat, Martin returned to private practice and continues to advocate for mental health. She let her membership of the Liberal Party lapse in 2024.

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 and then Rosebank College in Five Dock.{{cite web |title=Fiona Martin is your Liberal Candidate for Reid |url=https://nsw.liberal.org.au/candidate/Reid |publisher=Liberal Party |access-date=20 May 2019}}

Martin graduated from the University of Sydney with a doctorate in psychology and owned a psychology practice that has rooms in Mosman and Gladesville.{{cite web |title=Dr Fiona Martin |url=https://sydpsychologist.com.au/dr-fiona-martin/ |publisher=Sydney Psychology Centre |access-date=20 May 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Her PhD thesis was titled "Self-understanding in high-functioning males with autism spectrum disorders: relationship with social functioning and theory of mind".{{cite thesis |last1=Martin |first1=Fiona Barbouttis |title=Self-understanding in high-functioning males with autism spectrum disorders: relationship with social functioning and theory of mind |date=August 2008 |url=https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/4990 |publisher=The University of Sydney |access-date=7 April 2022|type=Thesis }}

Political career

In mid-March 2019, the then incumbent member for Reid, Craig Laundy, announced that he would not be standing at the 2019 election.{{Cite web |last1=FitzSimons |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter FitzSimons |last2=Koziol |first2=Michael |date=2019-03-15 |title='Time to put family first': Craig Laundy confirms he will quit politics at the election |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/time-to-put-family-first-craig-laundy-confirms-he-will-quit-politics-at-the-election-20190315-p514gi.html |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} Early the following month, Martin was nominated for the seat by the Liberal Party, being described as a "captain's pick".{{cite news |last1=Raper |first1=Ashleigh |title=Scott Morrison's captain's pick for Reid up against Labor staffer and political operative |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-10/morrison-captians-pick-for-reid-in-federal-election-fiona-martin/10987274 |work=ABC News |access-date=20 May 2019 |date=10 April 2019}} Martin's preselection faced a backlash among conservative elements of the Liberal Party, due in part to former statements of Martin's that supported pill testing, abortion and left wing US politicians such as Nancy Pelosi.{{Cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Sarah |last2=correspondent |first2=Sarah Martin Chief political |date=2021-11-29 |title=High-profile Liberal woman quits party to run as independent after alleging 'inappropriate' behaviour |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/30/high-profile-liberal-woman-quits-party-to-run-as-independent-after-alleging-inappropriate-behaviour |access-date=2024-10-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} She also hadn't lived in the electorate for a number of years but promised to return there if elected, in 2022 Martin disclosed that she lived in nearby East Ryde.{{Cite web |last=Saulwick |first=Jacob |date=2019-05-02 |title=Reid candidate lives five minutes away from the marginal seat but is happy to return |url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/reid-candidate-lives-five-minutes-away-from-the-marginal-seat-but-is-happy-to-return-20190502-p51jj7.html |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}{{Cite web |title='I made a legitimate comment': Liberal MP Fiona Martin refuses to apologise to Labor's Sally Sitou |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/i-made-a-legitimate-comment-liberal-mp-fiona-martin-refuses-to-apologise-to-labors-sally-sitou/4c1pyp9mv |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=SBS News |language=en}}

Tensions arose during the election when volunteers for Martin's campaign were accused of inappropriate slurs at volunteers for her Labor opponent and Martin lodged a complaint after claiming to have been "manhandled" by a Labor volunteer.{{Cite web |title='English only': Labor accuses Liberal volunteers of racist slurs in marginal Sydney seat |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/english-only-labor-accuses-liberal-volunteers-of-racist-slurs-in-marginal-sydney-seat/h77ky6zg9 |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=SBS News |language=en}}

Martin retained Reid for the Liberal Party, on a margin of around 53%. She was a member of the Moderate/Modern Liberal faction of the Liberal Party.{{cite web |last1=Massola |first1=James |title=Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions? |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/who-s-who-in-the-liberals-left-right-and-centre-factions-20210303-p577gv.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=20 March 2021 |publisher=Fairfax Media |access-date=1 February 2022}}

In December 2020, Martin was selected to chair a Select Committee into Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. The select committee, made up of 5 Coalition MPs and 3 Labor MPs handed down its final report in November 2021.{{Cite web |last=corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House |first=Canberra |title=Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Final Report |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Former_Committees/Mental_Health_and_Suicide_Prevention/MHSP/Report |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=www.aph.gov.au |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |last=Voutos |first=John |date=2021-12-03 |title=Fiona Martin MP calls for 'critically significant' reform of mental health system |url=https://greekherald.com.au/news/fiona-martin-mp-calls-for-critically-significant-reform-of-mental-health-system/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=The Greek Herald |language=en-AU}}

On 10 February 2022, Martin crossed the floor with four other Liberal MPs to protect vulnerable young people including transgender students in the government's modifications to the Sex Discrimination Act, which resulted in the Coalition Government's Religious Discrimination Bill being pulled.{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-10/religious-discrimination-bill-transgender-protection-explained/100818484 | title=The government lost a dramatic showdown on religious discrimination laws overnight. So what happened? | date=10 February 2022 | last=Evans | first=Jake | publisher=ABC}} Martin's vote was the decisive fifth vote needed to guarantee the included amendments would pass. Defending her decision, she said "I did what was right. I supported the religious discrimination bill, I supported people of faith and I protected the rights of vulnerable young students. To me, that was the right balance"{{Cite news |last=Karp |first=Paul |date=2022-02-11 |title='I did what was right': Liberal rebel Fiona Martin on the change that sank the religious discrimination bill |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/11/i-did-what-was-right-liberal-rebel-fiona-martin-on-the-change-that-sunk-the-religious-discrimination-bill |access-date=2024-10-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Martin would go on to lose the seat to Labor's Sitou on a swing of around 8%.{{Cite web |title=Reid (Key Seat) - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/reid |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}} It was reported that after her loss the outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison didn't call Martin to commiserate her defeat. It was reported that eight months before the 2022 election Martin wanted then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to lead the Liberal Party.https://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/scott-morrison-refused-to-call-liberal-mp-fiona-martin-after-she-lost-her-seat/news-story/f557c70b0cddf473d47389233bc29012?amp {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}

After leaving Parliament, Martin returned to private practice and was later appointed to the Department of Education's expert working group on consent education and respectful relationships. She also became a patron of the charity Australians for Mental Health. In 2023, she endorsed a yes vote in the 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament refurendum.{{Cite news |date=2023-04-14 |title=Voting yes to the voice is a liberal act to empower Indigenous Australians to take responsibility for their lives |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/14/voting-yes-to-the-voice-is-a-liberal-act-to-empower-indigenous-australians-to-take-responsibility-for-their-lives |access-date=2024-10-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} By 2024, Martin let her party membership lapse, citing negative experiences within the NSW Liberal Party.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-06-03 |title=Ex-federal MP Fiona Martin quits the Liberal Party |url=https://greekherald.com.au/news/ex-federal-mp-fiona-martin-quits-the-liberal-party/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=The Greek Herald |language=en-AU}}

Personal life

Fiona Martin was initially married to Jeremy Martin, they separated in 2015. Martin later married Nicolai Clausen, who was a Danish citizen at the time of their marriage.{{cite news |last1=Saulwick |first1=Jacob |title=Reid candidate lives five minutes away from the marginal seat but is happy to return |url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/reid-candidate-lives-five-minutes-away-from-the-marginal-seat-but-is-happy-to-return-20190502-p51jj7.html |access-date=20 May 2019 |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=3 May 2019}} Since December 2022, she has been in a relationship with Liberal senator Andrew Bragg.{{cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/cbd/senior-public-servant-s-side-hustle-as-pole-dancing-instructor-20221204-p5c3iv.html|title=Senior public servant's side-hustle as pole dancing instructor|first1=Noel|last1=Towell|first2=Kishor|last2=Napier-Raman|work=The Age|date=5 December 2022|access-date=9 September 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/senator-bragg-really-really-wants-attention-20231108-p5eift|title=Senator Bragg really, really wants attention|work=Financial Review|first=Aaron|last=Patrick|date=13 November 2023|access-date=9 September 2024}}

Martin was one of eleven MPs in the 46th Parliament of Australia who possessed a PhD, the others being Katie Allen, Jim Chalmers, Anne Aly, Andrew Leigh, Daniel Mulino, Jess Walsh, Adam Bandt, Mehreen Faruqi, Anne Webster and Helen Haines.{{cite web |title=Pathways to Parliament |url=https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2021/careers-before-politics/ |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |publisher=Fairfax Media |access-date=7 April 2022}}