Based on the South Coast of New South Wales, Fiona Phillips is the Federal Member for Gilmore in the 48th Parliament of Australia.
Fiona is chair of the Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure & Transport, a member of the Standing Committee on Primary Industries, and a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, of which she is chair of the Trade Subcommittee and a member of the Defence Subcommittee.
Fiona is married to Glenn, who runs his own carpentry and building small business, and they have four adult children. She was born and raised on a dairy farm and is from six local generations of dairy farmers dating back to 1856 at Broughton Vale and Jaspers Brush, near Nowra.
With a degree in Economics and a Master of Business, Fiona has had more than 25 years’ experience working in small, medium and large organisations, both private and public.
She is a former TAFE teacher and has had a long career working in education, skills and training, helping people back into the workforce as well as teaching management, finance and leadership as a commerce tutor for the University of Wollongong.
Fiona has also worked as a civilian Business Operations Manager/Strategic Workforce Planner, for the Navy Aviation Systems Program Office at HMAS Albatross.
She entered politics after leading a successful Save the Nowra Pool Campaign, which was a fierce, long, but successful community campaign from 2009-2015 which resulted in the new Nowra Aquatic Park.
First elected as the Member for Gilmore in 2019, Fiona was the first female Labor MP to hold the seat. She was re-elected in 2022 and again in 2025 and is the first ever third-term Labor Member for Gilmore.
Fiona has a deep love of her community and draws strength from Dame Mary Gilmore, the great progressive and fighter for the rights for women, pensioners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, workers and the disadvantaged in general.
She has fought hard to improve local early learning centres, schools, TAFE, uni and education pathways on the South Coast.
As the local Member of Parliament, Fiona is a relentless advocate for better roads, improved community infrastructure and services, local jobs, housing, education and apprenticeships, better health and aged care services.
The NSW South Coast is a revered tourist destination, with pristine beaches, forests and National Parks, picturesque towns and villages and is home to two defence bases.
Gilmore’s main industries are tourism, defence, agriculture – including dairy, beef, timber, wine and seafood production.
Fiona enjoys spending time with her family, enjoying the bush and marine environment, walking and bike-riding trails around Jervis Bay, snorkelling, fishing and swimming. And her two dogs are never too far away!
