Sophie grew up working in the family milk bar from the age of 12. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with Bachelor degrees in Law and Commerce and a Masters degree in Law. Before entering Parliament Sophie was a barrister at chambers in Melbourne and Wangaratta.

Sophie is a long standing advocate of Australia's way of life and constitutional arrangements. She was a leading spokesperson against the push for an Australian republic as an elected delegate to the Australian Constitutional Convention in February 1998.

Sophie has a keen interest in positive employment schemes and prior to her election Sophie served on the national Selection Panel for Work for the Dole Projects.

After the 2003 bushfires that burnt more than one million hectares of the Indi electorate, Sophie took a leading role in establishing the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Recent Australian Bushfires and served as a member of the Committee. Since then, Sophie has been a strong voice for better land management of public reserves and our national parks, more effective fire prevention and stronger fire suppression strategies.

In 2005, Sophie instituted a backbench tax and welfare reform group which effectively advocated lower taxes, which the Howard Government has strongly delivered.

She is a fearless and effective advocate for north-east Victoria having delivered over one billion dollars in local projects for Indi since her election. She maintains a high profile across all of the Indi electorate - a large and diverse electorate of some 28,000 square kilometres. Sophie holds membership of a number of local community groups such as patron of the Bandiana Army Museum, patron of the Beechworth and District Pistol Club Inc., and a sponsor of the Albury/Wodonga National Servicemen's Association newsletter.

Sophie was married at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Wangaratta in June 2006. She lives with her husband Greg on their rural property at Wangaratta East.

• $104,000 to widen and improve the road surface at Bryants Gap Road, Murray Valley Highway.
• A $32,000 grant to save 83,000 litres of water at the North Wangaratta Recreation Reserve by installing tanks to store harvested rainwater.
• A $480,000 grant to prevent crime through an education program to facilitate a whole of community response to youth crime and antisocial behaviour.
• $510,000 to improve safety and install a guardrail at Beechworth-Wangaratta Road, Beechworth.
• Ensuring the Wodonga rail bypass gets built by securing $45 million in federal funding.
• Security and safety equipment, an outdoor learning area and air conditioning for Tallangatta Primary School, with a $148,000 grant.
• $91,000 for a new specialised learning area at Myrtleford Secondary College.
• $150,000 to upgrade the assembly areas at Melrose Primary School, Wodonga West.
• Improvements to the school grounds at Harrietville Primary School, with a $141,000 grant.
• Supporting small businesses in Indi with $1.6 million in grants funding to over 323 local small businesses.

• Protect our water security and work against Labor's plan to rob our local water supplies and pipe our regions water to Melbourne.
• Secure more local road funding to make our roads safer, in addition to grants allocated to local councils to improve our local roads.
• Secure Australia's communications needs, both now and into the future, to ensure that Australians can access multi-megabit broadband services, irrespective of where they live.
• Continue to build the local economy to promote industry and investment and keep unemployment at record low levels.
• Continue to support our local schools with infrastructure upgrades and investment to provide world class educational outcomes for students.
• Work with local residents and communities to build high quality health facilities.
• Protect our local environmental assets to ensure our natural resources are sustained for future generations.
• Support the construction of the Benambra-Corryong Road to provide a direct link from the Upper Murray to East Gippsland, improving road safety and boosting tourism.
• Continue to work for local community needs and projects like the Barr Reserve Upgrade and the new Wangaratta Library.
• Ensuring the Wodonga Rail Bypass is built by holding the State Government accountable in order to revitalise Wodonga's central business district and attract more investment in Wodonga.