Mark McGowan (politician)

The Honourable Mark McGowan MLA
32nd Leader of the Opposition of Western Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 January 2012
Premier	Colin Barnett
Deputy	Roger Cook
Preceded by	Eric Ripper
Member of Parliament for Rockingham
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 December 1996
Preceded by	Michael Barnett
Personal details
Born	(1967-07-13) 13 July 1967 Newcastle, New South Wales
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Sarah (née Miller)
Profession	Legal officer, Royal Australian Navy
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Royal Australian Navy (1989–96) Royal Australian Naval Reserve (1996–)
Years of service	1989 –
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	HMAS Stirling
Awards	Commendation for Brave Conduct

Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia.

Born in Newcastle, McGowan was educated in country New South Wales before attending the University of Queensland, where he resided at Emmanuel College. He subsequently worked as a legal officer for the Royal Australian Navy, serving at naval base HMAS Stirling, south of Perth. Remaining in Western Australia, McGowan served as a councillor at the City of Rockingham from 1994 until his election to the Legislative Assembly at the 1996 state election, representing the seat of Rockingham. After the 2005 election, he was elevated to the ministry, although he had served as a Parliamentary Secretary since the 2001 election. McGowan became opposition leader and leader of the Labor Party following Eric Ripper's resignation in January 2012, and led the party during its defeat at the 2013 election. He currently also holds several shadow portfolios in addition to his role as opposition leader.

Early life and naval career

McGowan was born in Newcastle and was educated at public schools in country New South Wales, before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1989 from the University of Queensland. He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1984.^[1] In 1989, he joined the Navy and served at the naval base HMAS Stirling. In 1996, he was awarded a Commendation for Brave Conduct, for actions he took as a Naval Officer in 1995 in rescuing an unconscious driver from a burning car.^[2]

Political career

In 1994, he was elected to the City of Rockingham as a councillor, and in 1995, he became Deputy Mayor. He was preselected to run for the seat of Rockingham at the 1996 state election following the retirement of long-serving MP Mike Barnett.

At the 2001 election, Labor defeated the previous Liberal–National government, and McGowan was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier.^[3] He also chaired the ANZAC Committee, the committee managing the State's 175th anniversary celebrations in 2004 and the Bali Memorial Steering Committee.^[4] In January 2005, following the retirement of federal Labor leader Mark Latham, McGowan was criticised for not telling Premier Geoff Gallop before taking leave to travel to Sydney with Kim Beazley, who was seeking the position. Gallop ordered him to return to Perth.^[5]

Following Labor's win at the 2005 election, Gallop reshuffled the ministry, giving McGowan the Tourism portfolio as well as Racing and Gaming, Youth, and Peel and the South West.^[6] In February, following Gallop's retirement, McGowan became the Environment Minister while retaining Racing and Gaming but losing all others—notably Tourism to Sheila McHale, Youth to David Templeman and South West to Norm Marlborough.

McGowan introduced major liquor reforms including the introduction of small bars, created the Department of Environment and Conservation and provided approval for the Gorgon Project.^[7][8][9]

On 13 December 2006, following Marlborough's departure from the Carpenter ministry and Ljiljanna Ravlich's troubled run in the Education portfolio, McGowan became Minister for Education and Training and for the South West. In the Education portfolio, he oversaw the replacement of outcomes-based education with syllabus (scope and sequence) documents, re-established traditional forms of marking and reporting and launched a renewed effort towards the attraction and retention of teachers.^[10][11]

In April 2008 McGowan came under fire when he referred to an ex-Labor MP John D'Orazio as an "the worst ethnic branch stacker in the history of Labor in WA".^[12] McGowan later apologised to anyone who took offence to the remark.^[13] McGowan was again in the media spotlight after it was revealed that he had dealings with Brian Burke during the 2005 state election. A copy of an email showed that he had consulted with Burke over fundraising.^[14]

Following the defeat of the Labor Party at the 2008 state election and Carpenter's resignation as leader of the Labor Party, McGowan was one of several contenders to replace him. Ultimately, he did not contest, and Eric Ripper was elected unopposed; however, McGowan contested the deputy role, which he lost to newcomer Roger Cook in a 30–9 vote.^[15] McGowan was awarded a place in the shadow ministry as shadow minister for State Development, Trade, Planning, Housing and Works and also managed opposition business in the Legislative Assembly.

Labor leader

McGowan speaking at a protest in April 2014.

On 17 January 2012, Ripper announced his resignation as state Labor leader. At a caucus meeting on 23 January, McGowan was elected unopposed as Ripper's successor.^[16][17]

McGowan led Labor into the 2013 state election. Labor suffered a 5.4 percent two-party swing and a loss of five seats, including that of former leader Ripper. McGowan stayed on as opposition leader.

Polling

Polling since the 2013 state election landslide has consistently shown a large swing away from the third-term Barnett Liberal government, with the latest Newspoll conducted from October to December 2015 and released in January 2016, revealing the government significantly trailing 47-53 two-party against the Labor opposition, representing a double-digit two-party swing of over ten percent since the 2013 election, with Labor's 33 percent primary vote increasing to a current 42 percent. Just prior to the 2013 election, Barnett was nominated Better Premier with a 21 percent lead on 52 percent, with an approval rating of 51 percent and a disapproval rating of 36 percent. Since then, McGowan has consistently led Barnett as Better Premier by several percent, with Barnett's approval rating consistently low, currently at 33 percent, with his disapproval rating consistently high, currently at 54 percent. McGowans rating's have been consistent, with his approval currently at 47 percent and his disapproval currently at 32 percent.^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Personal life

McGowan is married to Sarah McGowan (née Miller) and they have three children; Samuel, Alexander, and Amelia.

See also

• Western Australian state election, 2017

References

External links

• Official Western Australia Cabinet site
• Official Australian Labor Party site
• Parliament of Western Australia site