Edmund Rupert Joseph "Ed" Dermer born 30 October 1957 in Subiaco

Subiaco, Western Australia

Subiaco is an inner western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, situated to the north west of Kings Park. Its Local Government Area is the City of Subiaco.-History:Prior to European settlement the area was home to the Noongar Indigenous people....

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician. He is currently the member of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

 representing the North Metropolitan Region

Electoral region of North Metropolitan

The electoral region of North Metropolitan is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the north-western and western suburbs of Perth. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with seven members who had been...

. Elected to Parliament in the 1996 state election

Western Australian state election, 1996

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 December 1996 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...

 after the resignation of Samuel Mathew Piantadosi he is a member of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

.

He was re-elected in the 2001

Western Australian state election, 2001

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 10 February 2001 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...

 and 2005

Western Australian state election, 2005

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 26 February 2005 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...

 state elections and has held the position of Government Whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 in the Legislative Council from May 2001 to present.

Dermer was one of the three North Metropolitan Labor MLCs, along with Graham Giffard

Graham Giffard

Graham Thomas Giffard is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2000 to 2008, representing the North Metropolitan Region....

 and Ken Travers

Ken Travers

Kenneth "Ken" Dunstan Elder Travers born 1 February 1961 in Sussex, England is an Australian politician. He is currently the member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing the North Metropolitan Region...

, who proved to be critical in the introduction of Daylight saving in 2006 in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. Initially intending on voting against the motion, they all eventually decided to support the motion in line with the wishes of their electorate and party.

In 2008, Dermer was caught in a rip

Rip current

A rip current, commonly referred to by the misnomer rip tide, is a strong channel of water flowing seaward from near the shore, typically through the surf line. Typical flow is at 0.5 metres per second , and can be as fast as 2.5 metres per second...

 with his sons, Alexander and Cameron, at a Surfers Paradise beach and had to be rescued by lifesavers. Shortly afterward he was diagnosed with a melanoma

Melanoma

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...

 on the back of his neck, which was removed and found to be malignant

Malignant

Malignancy is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. Malignancy in cancers is characterized by anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis...

.