Willem Westra van Holthe

Willem Rudolf Westra van Holthe (born 22 August 1962) is an Australian politician. He is a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, having held the seat of Katherine since the 2008 election. He is the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries and Minister for Mines and Energy in the Mills Ministry^[1] and from 6–14 March 2013 served as deputy chief minister,^[2] a role he resumed following a leadership challenge in which he was briefly the Chief Minister-designate.

Early life

Westra van Holthe was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, to a Dutch father and Australian mother. His family moved to Australia and settled in Brisbane, Queensland.^[3]

Westra van Holthe moved to the Northern Territory in 1984 to work as a labourer on such projects as the Elizabeth River Bridge and the Arnhem Highway.^[4] In 1986, he joined the Northern Territory Police where he served until 2000—when he left the force to run a small business with his wife Jennie—and again from 2002 to 2008.^[3] As a police officer, he was stationed at Maranboy, Mataranka and Alice Springs, then at Katherine on his return to the police force.^[4]

Political career

In 2008, Westra van Holthe left the police to pursue a career in politics where he felt he could have a greater influence on law formation and implementation.^[4] He was preselected by the Country Liberal Party (CLP) as a candidate for the electorate of Katherine where the sitting member Fay Miller was retiring, and was elected at the Territory election in August 2008.

When the CLP won government at the 2012 election, Westra van Holthe was appointed as Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries and Minister for Mines and Energy in the first ministry under Chief Minister Terry Mills.

On 6 March 2013, Dave Tollner attempted to challenge Mills for the party leadership, although Mills averted any leadership ballot taking place after a six hour party room meeting. Tollner was expelled from the cabinet, and deputy leader Robyn Lambley resigned.^[5] In the ensuing reshuffle, Westra van Holthe became Deputy Chief Minister replacing Lambley, also assuming the portfolios of Trade, Land Resource Management, Public Employment, and Essential Services. Less than a week later, Westra van Holthe was acting Chief Minister whilst Terry Mills was in Japan on a trade visit. Adam Giles made a successful challenge to Mills' leadership, becoming CLP leader and installing Toller as his deputy, although Westra van Holthe retained his other ministries apart from the trade and employment portfolios.

On 2 February 2015, Westra van Holthe challenged Giles for the leadership of the Country Liberal Party in a late night party room meeting. At a 1 am media conference on 3 February, Westra van Holthe announced that the party had voted for him to replace Giles as leader, and that his new cabinet would be sworn in on 4 February. The ABC reported that the ballot was nine votes to five in favour of Westra van Holthe.^[6] During the press conference Westra van Holthe referred to himself as the “Chief Minister apparent”.^[7] Westra van Holthe's plans to be sworn in as Chief Minister later in the day were halted by Giles' refusal to sign a document confirming his resignation. A meeting of the CLP's parliamentary wing took place that evening, as the party sought to resolve the internal crisis,^[8] with Giles eventually announcing he would remain as CLP leader and Chief Minister, with Westra van Holthe as his deputy.^[9]

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