Peter Katsambanis

Peter Argyris Katsambanis (born 24 December 1965) is an Australian politician. He was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council at the 2013 state election, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, taking his seat on 22 May 2013. He resigned in 2017 to contest the Legislative Assembly seat of Hillarys, a contest he won. He was previously a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1996 to 2002.

Katsambanis was born in Melbourne to Argyrios and Nicoletta Katsambanis, and attended Windsor Public School, Prahran High School and Melbourne High School, graduating in 1983. He received a Bachelor of Commerce (1989) and a Bachelor of Law (1990) from the University of Melbourne before becoming an articled clerk with the Trust Company of Australia. In 1992 he became senior trust officer for ANZ funds management, and in 1994 became a solicitor with Perpetual Trustees. In 1995 he founded his own legal firm. A member of the Liberal Party from 1987, he was President of the Toorak Young Liberals (1990–91). From 1991 to 1992 he was on the Prahran Electorate Council.

In 1996, Katsambanis was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as one of the members for Monash Province. He served as a backbencher until his defeat in 2002.

Katsambanis has been married twice. His current wife is Karalee Tilvern, a former TV news reporter whom he met in Melbourne. They moved to WA in 2010 where Tilvern was born and educated. In May 2013 Katsambanis was elected to the Upper House of the WA Parliament.

In 2016, Katsambanis lost preselection by local branches to businessman Simon Ehrenfeld, however the WA Liberal Party's State Council overruled the decision of local branches and preselected Katsambanis as the candidate for the seat of Hillarys. Katsambanis then went on to defeat former Liberal MP Rob Johnson and Labor challenger Teresa Ritchie after preferences from independent Rob Johnson, despite a low primary vote.

Katsambanis was the subject of nationwide media attention after political opponent Rob Johnson leaked a bizarre 2:49am voicemail left on his phone by Katsambanis.

After the election and the subsequent loss of government, Katsambanis was appointed by new WA Liberal Leader Mike Nahan as the Shadow Minister for Police; Road Safety; Corrective Services; Industrial Relations.