John Martyr

John Martyr
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Swan
In office
13 December 1975 – 18 October 1980
Preceded byAdrian Bennett
Succeeded byKim Beazley
Senator for Western Australia
In office
11 March 1981 – 4 February 1983
Preceded byAllan Rocher
Personal details
Born(1932-05-25)25 May 1932
Melbourne, Victoria
Died18 June 2021(2021-06-18) (aged 89)
Perth, Western Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyDLP (1956–74)
Liberal (1974–83)
SpouseDoris Dent
OccupationPolitical consultant

John Raymond Martyr (25 May 1932 – 18 June 2021)[1] was an Australian politician.

Born in Melbourne, he was a political and economic consultant before entering politics. Martyr had a long history of involvement with the Australian Labor Party from his late teens, but due to his involvement with the anti-communist Roman Catholic "Movement" under the aegis of B. A. Santamaria, he was expelled from the ALP.

He became an organiser and candidate with the Democratic Labor Party, and on 14 April 1956 married Doris Dent, a local ALP branch secretary and Police Union staffer who was also involved with the Movement.

In 1962, John and Doris Martyr moved to Western Australia, where John became State Secretary of the DLP. He eventually joined the Liberal Party, and in 1975, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Swan, defeating sitting Labor member Adrian Bennett. He held the seat until his defeat by Kim Beazley in 1980.

On 11 March 1981, he was appointed to the Australian Senate to fill the casual vacancy created by Allan Rocher who resigned to transfer to the House of Representatives. He was defeated, however, in the 1983 election.[2][3]

  1. ^ "MARTYR John – Obituaries". The West Announcements. 19 June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  2. ^ Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  3. ^ Strangman, Denis. "MARTYR, John Raymond (1932–2021) Senator for Western Australia, 1981–83 (Liberal Party of Australia)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 24 August 2021.