Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)

The Leader of the Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...

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...

is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties in the Legislative Assembly

Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

of the Parliament of Western Australia

Parliament of Western Australia

The Parliament of Western Australia consists of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly . The Parliament sits at Parliament House in Harvest Terrace, Perth....

. By convention, he or she is generally a member of the Legislative Assembly

Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

. The current Leader of the Opposition is Eric Ripper

Eric Ripper

Eric Stephen Ripper is the Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia.He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper later attended Churchlands Senior High School and the University of Western Australia, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts and a...

of the 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...

.

Prior to 1911, the 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...

n political system had neither organised political parties (apart from the Labor Party) nor an organised opposition. The notion of leader of the opposition was well-understood however, and on occasions was applied to members. Maitland Brown

Maitland Brown

Maitland Brown was an explorer, politician and pastoralist in colonial Western Australia. He is best remembered as the leader of the La Grange expedition, which searched for and recovered the bodies of three white settlers murdered by Indigenous Australians, and subsequently killed a number of...

, for example, was often referred to as Leader of the Opposition during his period as an outspoken critic of Governor

Governor of Western Australia

The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...

Robinson

William Cleaver Francis Robinson

Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson GCMG was a British colonial administrator and a musical composer, being the author of several well known songs...

's Government.

List of Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia

This is an incomplete list of Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia, from 1905 to present:

Leader	Party	Period in office
Henry Daglish Henry Daglish Henry Daglish was the sixth Premier of Western Australia and the state's first Labor Premier.Henry Daglish was born in Ballarat West, Victoria on 18 November 1866. He was educated in Geelong, and attended Melbourne University...	Labor 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...	25 August – 27 September 1905
William Johnson	Labor	4 October 1905 – 27 October 1906
Thomas Bath	Labor	27 October 1906 – 3 August 1910
John Scaddan John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...	Labor	3 August 1910 – 7 October 1911
Frank Wilson	Liberal (WA)	1 November 1911 – 25 July 1916
John Scaddan John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...	Labor	25 July 1916 – 16 April 1917
Philip Collier Philip Collier Philip Collier was Premier of Western Australia for nine years, the longest ever term for an Australian Labor Party premier....	Labor	16 April 1917 – 16 March 1924
Sir James Mitchell James Mitchell (Australian politician) Sir James Mitchell GCMG was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia....	Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	16 March 1924 – 24 April 1930
Philip Collier Philip Collier Philip Collier was Premier of Western Australia for nine years, the longest ever term for an Australian Labor Party premier....	Labor	24 April 1930 – 24 April 1933
Charles Latham Charles Latham Sir Charles Latham was an Australian politician born in Hythe, Kent in England.- Biography :Latham became an orphan in early childhood when his parents Thomas Latham and Isabella died before the age of 8...	Country National Party of Western Australia The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....	24 April 1933 – 8 October 1942
Arthur Watts	Country	8 October 1942 – 1 April 1947
Frank Wise Frank Wise Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO was an Australian Labor Party politician and the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of his predecessor due to ill health...	Labor	1 April 1947 – 26 June 1951
Albert Hawke Albert Hawke Albert Redvers George Hawke was the 18th Premier of Western Australia.Hawke was born to James Renfrey Hawke and Eliza Ann Blinman Pascoe, both of Cornish descent, in Kapunda, South Australia...	Labor	3 July 1951 – 22 February 1953
Ross McLarty Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty KBE MM was the 17th Premier of Western Australia.-Early life:McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, a farmer and grazier and member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and his wife Mary Jane, née Campbell...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	23 February 1953 – 1 March 1957
David Brand David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG was the 19th and longest serving Premier of Western Australia and a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1945 to 1975.-Early life:...	Liberal	1 March 1957 – 1 April 1959
Albert Hawke	Labor	2 April 1959 – 31 December 1966
John Tonkin John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin AC , popularly known as "Honest John", was the 20th Premier of Western Australia , taking power after the almost 12 year term of Liberal Sir David Brand....	Labor	1 January 1967 – 2 March 1971
Sir David Brand	Liberal	3 March 1971 – 5 June 1972
Charles Court Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, was a Western Australian politician, 21st Premier of Western Australia and member for the seat of Nedlands for the Liberal Party for nearly 30 years.-Early life:...	Liberal	5 June 1972 – 8 April 1974
John Tonkin John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin AC , popularly known as "Honest John", was the 20th Premier of Western Australia , taking power after the almost 12 year term of Liberal Sir David Brand....	Labor	8 April 1974 – 15 April 1976
Colin Jamieson Colin Jamieson Colin John Jamieson, AO JP , was a politician in Western Australia. A member of the Australian Labor Party, he served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1953 until 1986, as the Minister for Works and Water Supplies in the Tonkin Ministry and as Leader of the Opposition...	Labor	16 April 1976 – 21 February 1978
Ron Davies Ron Davies (Western Australian politician) Ronald "Ron" Davies was an Australian politician, who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Victoria Park from 1961 to 1986....	Labor	21 February 1978 – 18 September 1981
Brian Burke Brian Burke Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...	Labor	18 September 1981 – 19 February 1983
Ray O'Connor Ray O'Connor Raymond James "Ray" O'Connor was the 22nd Premier of Western Australia.-Pre-political life:He was born in Perth and attended schools in towns of Narrogin and York, and St Patrick's Boys' School in Perth...	Liberal	19 February 1983 – 15 February 1984
Bill Hassell	Liberal	15 February 1984 – 25 November 1986
Barry MacKinnon	Liberal	25 November 1986 – 12 May 1992
Richard Court Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court AC , was a Western Australian politician, representing the seat of Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party of Australia from 1982 to 2001. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001.Court was born into an old political...	Liberal	12 May 1992 – 6 February 1993
Dr Carmen Lawrence Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia....	Labor	16 February 1993 – 7 February 1994
Ian Taylor Ian Taylor (Australian politician) Ian Taylor is a former Australian politician and Western Australian Deputy Premier and Opposition Leader.Taylor was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1981 as the Labor member for Kalgoorlie. In 1986 he was appointed Minister for Health and also held the Aged Care, Lands and...	Labor	7 February 1994 – 12 October 1994
Jim McGinty Jim McGinty James Andrew McGinty is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996...	Labor	12 October 1994 – 15 October 1996
Dr Geoff Gallop Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...	Labor	15 October 1996 – 16 February 2001
Richard Court	Liberal	16 February 2001 – 26 February 2001
Colin Barnett Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett , Australian politician, is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, the 29th and current Premier of Western Australia since the 2008 election and served as the Treasurer of Western Australia in 2010. He was sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 September 2008...	Liberal	26 February 2001 – 9 March 2005
Matt Birney Matt Birney Matthew John Birney is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006....	Liberal	9 March 2005 – 24 March 2006
Paul Omodei Paul Omodei Paul Domenic Omodei , Australian politician, was the leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia from 24 March 2006 until 17 January 2008....	Liberal	24 March 2006 – 17 January 2008
Troy Buswell Troy Buswell Troy Raymond Buswell is currently the Liberal member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Vasse, and the Minister for Transport and Minister for Housing. He was Leader of the Opposition for several months in 2008, then served as Treasurer of Western Australia in the Barnett...	Liberal	17 January 2008 – 4 August 2008
Colin Barnett	Liberal	6 August 2008 – 23 September 2008
Eric Ripper Eric Ripper Eric Stephen Ripper is the Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia.He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper later attended Churchlands Senior High School and the University of Western Australia, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts and a...	Labor	23 September 2008 – present

List of Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia

See also