Tony Simpson

Anthony James (Tony) Simpson (born 15 July 1965) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since February 2005, representing the electorate of Serpentine-Jarrahdale from 2005 to 2008 and the electorate of Darling Range since the 2008 election.

He was born in Frankston, Victoria, and arrived in Western Australia in 1970. He started his own bakery in the small town of Byford on the outskirts of the Perth metropolitan area, where he now lives with his wife and family. Simpson also served as a member of the Serpentine-Jarrahdale shire council from 2001 to 2005, and was the inaugural chairman of the Byford and Districts Community Bank, which opened early in 2005.

Simpson was chosen as the Liberal Party candidate to contest the newly created key marginal seat of Serpentine-Jarrahdale at the 2005 state election. After a heavily contested election, he managed to win the seat over Australian Labor Party candidate and union official Daron Smith.

As a new MP, in June 2005, Simpson became the first politician in Australia to provide services to his constituencies via SMS and live internet chat using MSN Messenger.

He was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Child Protection; Community Services; Seniors and Volunteering in the Barnett Ministry until 8 July 2011.

He was appointed Government Whip on 8 July 2011.

In March 2013, Premier Colin Barnett appointed Tony Simpson as the Minister for Local Government, Communities, Seniors and Volunteering; Youth and he joined State Cabinet.

References

• "Parliament of Western Australia - Members of the Legislative Assembly". Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 February 2005. 
• "Tony Simpson MLA - About Tony". Tony Simpson MLA Online. Retrieved 25 June 2005. 

External links

• Official site