Professor Stephen Martin (left) when he was Federal Member for Macarthur, welcoming Prime Minister Bob Hawke to Shellharbour Airport in 1988. Also pictured are Federal MP Colin Hollis, Shellharbour Mayor Bob Harrison and his wife Ann. Photo: Discover Shellharbour.
Stephen Martin’s connection with the University of Wollongong goes back more than five decades.
The former Federal Member for Cunningham and first grade rugby league referee can now add member of the university’s council to UOW student, lecturer, professor and executive.
NSW Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Minister Steve Whan directly appointed Professor Martin, 78, to the council on 17 March.
“I’m confident Professor Martin will make a strong contribution to the council, bringing a wealth of experience across higher education and public service, along with a deep understanding of the Illawarra community,” Mr Whan said.
Just last week (8 April) the council was heavily criticised by a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s university sector.
The Standing Committee on Social Issues released an interim report on the inquiry, raising “serious concerns about governance failures, weak oversight and inadequate public transparency across NSW universities”.
The report was particularly critical of the role and membership of UOW’s council, amid confusion from various witnesses to the inquiry about the actual number and makeup of the membership.
“UOW’s published information indicates that the university council comprises 13 members, including one ministerially appointed member and no undergraduate student representative, reflecting a reduction in elected student participation,” the interim report said.
“Although the act identifies serving the Illawarra region as one of UOW’s functions, it does not require council members to be from the Illawarra, nor does it mandate any form of regional representation on the university council.
“Evidence to the inquiry suggested that limited regional connection among senior office-holders may affect the council’s understanding of local impacts.”
UOW chancellor Michael Still welcomed Professor Martin’s appointment and said his lifelong ties to Wollongong and breadth of experience made him an outstanding addition to the council.
“Professor Martin is, in every sense, a product of this region and this university and we are delighted to welcome him back,” Mr Still said.
“He brings to council an exceptional depth of experience across higher education leadership, public policy and economic governance.”
Wollongong born and bred and a graduate of Wollongong High School, Professor Martin’s association with UOW started in 1974, when he become an economics lecturer.
The former high school teacher also worked as a town planner before joining the Labor Party and entering politics as a Wollongong City Councillor in 1983.
Aside from politics, Professor Martin was a well-known rugby league referee – he refereed the 1984 Illawarra Rugby League grand final – and passionate supporter of the Illawarra Steelers.
Professor Martin was appointed to the UOW Council in March. Photo: UOW.
In 1989 he became a director of the Steelers rugby league club, but resigned in protest in 1996 over the dismissal of the club coach and the club’s reluctance to open talks with News Limited on Super League. He was also a patron of the Illawarra Academy of Sport.
He moved into federal politics at the December 1984 election when he won the seat of Macarthur, which encompassed the northern suburbs of Wollongong and some semi-rural areas extending to Picton and the Burragorang Valley.
According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, in his first speech to the House of Representatives he said former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam “shook from me the shackles of political apathy”.
He served as parliamentary secretary to the minister for foreign affairs and trade from 1991 to 1993.
A 1992 electoral redistribution shifted northern Wollongong from Macarthur to the adjoining seat of Cunningham, which was held by the former Hawke government minister Stewart West.
Professor Martin successfully challenged Mr West for preselection in Cunningham, declaring that his home and constituency would always be Wollongong. He went on to win Cunningham at the March 1993 election and held it comfortably for the next 18 years.
He was appointed speaker of the house after the 1993 election, a position he held until 1996 when Labor lost office, bringing an end to 13 years of Labor Government under the prime ministerships of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.
In 1999 he was awarded a doctorate by the University of Wollongong for a thesis on financial deregulation under the Hawke and Keating governments.
Professor Martin resigned from parliament in August 2002 citing political burnout.
The seat of Cunningham was lost to Michael Organ from the Greens, the first seat the party had won in the House of Representatives.
Professor Martin’s links to UOW were further strengthened in 2002 when he accepted a professorship in economics and he later served as president and CEO of the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
He has served in various senior roles for other universities, including Victoria University, Perth’s Curtin University and Southern Cross University in Lismore and is currently chairman of the Bank of China (Australia).
Professor Martin was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2022 for distinguished service to the people and Parliament of Australia, to charitable organisations, and to regional sport and education.
He said he looked forward to contributing to the university’s future.
“I am very much looking forward to continuing my long association with the University of Wollongong and contributing to council’s deliberations on progressing this great institution into the future,” Professor Martin said.
