Murray John Cowper is an Australian politician, having served in 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 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....

 since 2005 as the 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...

 member for Murray-Wellington.

He was born on 25 October 1960 in South Perth

South Perth, Western Australia

South Perth is a residential suburb 3 kilometres south of the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, which adjoins the southern shore of Perth Water on the Swan River...

. He joined the Western Australian Police in 1978, and served as a police officer in Broome

Broome, Western Australia

Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...

, Fitzroy Crossing

Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia

Fitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 km east of Broome and 300 km west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 km from the state capital of Perth....

, Halls Creek

Halls Creek, Western Australia

Halls Creek is a small town situated in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located between the towns of Fitzroy Crossing and Turkey Creek on the Great Northern Highway...

, Dampier

Dampier, Western Australia

Dampier is a major industrial port in the north-west of Western Australia. The Dampier Port is part of the Dampier Archipelago. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. Rio Tinto exports large volumes of iron ore through the port, and in September 2010...

, Denmark

Denmark, Western Australia

Denmark is a town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-south-east of the state capital of Perth. At the 2006 census, Denmark had a population of 2,732.-History:...

 and Australind

Australind, Western Australia

Australind is a satellite town and outer northern suburb of Bunbury, Western Australia, and is located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2006 census, Australind had a population of 8,717. -History:Prior to European...

. Along the way he achieved a Diploma in Search and Rescue, and a Diploma of Business Management, and ran a business with his wife.

He was elected to the seat of Murray at the 2005 election

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...

, succeeding John Bradshaw. The seat was renamed Murray-Wellington at the 2008 election

Western Australian state election, 2008

A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...

. He was appointed to the Barnett Ministry

Barnett Ministry

The Barnett Ministry is the 35th and current Ministry of the Government of Western Australia. It includes 13 members of the Liberal Party, three members of the National Party of Western Australia and an independent. It is led by the Premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, and Deputy Premier Dr...

as a parliamentary secretary.