Mark Stuart Parton (born 24 September 1966) is an Australian politician, and current Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. He has been a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Brindabella.[1] He was a long-running local radio announcer on 2CC before entering politics.[2][3]
On 19 April 2023, Parton became one of two ACT Liberals to announce his support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, putting him at odds with his party colleague Jeremy Hanson and federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton. He had previously leaned towards a No vote in the referendum though changed his mind after discussions with the Noongar communities in Western Australia. Parton himself has Noongar heritage, but "[does] not identify as Aboriginal".[4]
Parton was born on 24 September 1966 in York, Western Australia.[1] He is married, with three children and three step-children.[5][6]
Before entering parliament, he ran a marketing business. He had worked in commercial radio for 30 years, starting at age 17 in 6AM in Northam, Western Australia, and working in several different states, with the last 16 years in breakfast programs in Canberra on 2CC.[5][7][8]
He has long been aware of having Aboriginal heritage, but in 2022 researched his family history to find the details.[9]
Parton has admitted to having a caffeine addiction.[10]
Parton is a frequent user of the social media platform TikTok,[11] and was briefly ejected from ACT's parliament after releasing a video that was alleged to breach parliamentary filming rules.[12]
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