Amanda Ruth Fazio MLC, an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 representing the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

. Whilst Fazio was elected to the Council on 30 August 2000 by the Labor Party and continues to serve to the present day representing Labor, for a period during 2010 Fazio was suspended from the Labor Party and remained in the Council as an independent member. Fazio was President of the Legislative Council

President of the New South Wales Legislative Council

The President of the New South Wales Legislative Council is the presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of New South Wales. The role of President has generally been a partisan office, filled by the governing party of the time. The incumbent President is no exception, currently held...

 from 24 November 2009 to 3 May 2011, and since 3 May 2011 has been Opposition Whip in the Council.

Early years and background

Fazio was born to Vince and Ruth Fazio, and grew up in Cabramatta

Cabramatta, New South Wales

Cabramatta is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield...

, Nowra

Nowra, New South Wales

Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Located SSW and approximately by road south of the state capital of Sydney, it has an estimated population together with its twin-town of Bomaderry of 34,479. It is also the seat and commercial centre of the City of Shoalhaven...

 and Taree

Taree, New South Wales

Taree is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of around 20,000 people and is the centre of a significant agricultural district. It is 16 km from the sea coast,...

. Educated at Taree Primary School and Cabramatta West Primary School, she later attended Cabramatta High School and then attended the MLC School at Burwood before becoming a Commonwealth public servant. Fazio joined the Australian Labor Party in February 1977 at the Enfield

Enfield, New South Wales

Enfield is a suburb, in the Inner-West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Enfield is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Burwood Council.-History:...

 branch and worked for Australian federal politicians Leo McLeay

Leo McLeay

Leo Boyce McLeay , Australian politician, was a Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from June 1979 to October 2004. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives 1989-93.-Biography:...

 and Stephen Martin.

Political career

Fazio was preselected to fill the vacancy in the Legislative Council in July 2000 caused by the resignation of Jeff Shaw

Jeff Shaw

Jeffrey Lee Shaw is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who had a 12-year career from 1990 to 2001...

, and was appointed a Member of the Council on 30 August 2000. She was re-elected at the 2007 state election from the seventh place on the Labor Party ticket.

Between 2003 and 2009, Fazio served on a number of Council Committees before being elected as President of the Legislative Council on 24 November 2009.

On 20 October 2010, Fazio was suspended from the Labor Party when she crossed the floor

Crossing the floor

In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...

 to vote with the NSW Greens

Greens New South Wales

The Greens New South Wales is the state Greens party in New South Wales. It is a member party of the Australian Greens. The Greens NSW have one member in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly , five members in the New South Wales Legislative Council...

 on a bill dealing with the distribution of X-rated pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

.