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Colin Barnett

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The Honourable
Colin Barnett
AC
29thPremier of Western Australia
In office
23 September 2008 – 17 March 2017
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorKen Michael
Malcolm McCusker
Kerry Sanderson
DeputyKim Hames
Liza Harvey
Preceded byAlan Carpenter
Succeeded byMark McGowan
Treasurer of Western Australia
In office
27 April 2010 – 14 December 2010
Preceded byTroy Buswell
Succeeded byChristian Porter
In office
12 June 2012 – 7 July 2012
Preceded byChristian Porter
Succeeded byTroy Buswell
In office
10 March 2014 – 17 March 2014
Preceded byTroy Buswell
Succeeded byMike Nahan
27thLeader of the Opposition in Western Australia
Elections:2005
In office
26 February 2001 – 9 March 2005
DeputyDan Sullivan
Preceded byRichard Court
Succeeded byMatt Birney
In office
6 August 2008 – 23 September 2008
DeputyKim Hames
Preceded byTroy Buswell
Succeeded byEric Ripper
In office
17 March 2017 – 21 March 2017
DeputyLiza Harvey
Preceded byMark McGowan
Succeeded byMike Nahan
Member of theWestern Australian Parliament
forCottesloe
In office
11 August 1990 – 5 February 2018
Preceded byBill Hassell
Succeeded byDavid Honey
Personal details
Born
Colin James Barnett

(1950-07-15)15 July 1950(age 74)
Nedlands, Western Australia,Australia
Political partyLiberal Party
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
ProfessionEconomist

Colin James BarnettAC(born 15 July 1950) is an Australian former politician who was the 29thPremier of Western Australia.He concurrently served as the state'sTreasurerat several points during his tenure and had previously held various other portfolios in Western Australia'sCourt–Cowan Ministry.

Barnett was born inNedlands,Perth.He graduated from theUniversity of Western Australiawith an economics degree. Having lectured in economics at theWestern Australian Institute of Technologyand served as an executive director of the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he was elected to theWestern Australian Legislative Assemblyfor theseat of Cottesloeata by-election in 1990.Barnett served as a minister in the Court–Cowan Ministry from 1993 until its defeat at the2001 election,after which he was made leader of the Liberal Party, replacing the outgoing premier,Richard Court.He resigned as leader after the unsuccessful2005 election,but regained the position prior to the2008 election,where he was elected premier. Barnett was sworn into office on 23 September 2008 byKen Michael,theGovernor of Western Australiaat the time. At the2013 electionBarnett and his government were re-elected to a second term.

The Liberals were defeated at the2017 election,andWA Labor'sMark McGowansucceeded Barnett as Premier. On 15 December 2017, Barnett announced his intention to resign from politics, which he did on 5 February 2018.

Early life

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Barnett was born inNedlands,an inner western suburb ofPerth,on 15 July 1950. He was educated at Nedlands Primary School andHollywood Senior High School.[1]He began studying geology at theUniversity of Western Australia,but switched to an economics course from which he graduated with an honours degree and later a master's degree. In 1973, he became a cadet research officer for theAustralian Bureau of StatisticsinCanberra,being promoted to senior research officer before returning to Perth in 1975 to become a lecturer in Economics at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (later renamedCurtin University).[2]

In 1981, he was seconded to the Confederation of Western Australian Industry, becoming the founding editor of their publication,Western Australian Economic Review.He was later appointed their chief economist, and served with them until 1985, when he became the executive director of the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[3]

Early political career

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After former state Liberal leaderBill Hassellretired from politics in 1990, Barnett won theensuing by-electionin his old seat ofCottesloe.[4]He had not previously been a member of the Liberal Party, only joining during thepreselectionprocess.[5]

Despite this, Barnett was appointed to theshadow cabinetofBarry MacKinnonshortly after entering parliament, with responsibility for housing and works. He also added the fuel and energy portfolio in August 1991.[4]In May 1992, MacKinnon was replaced as leader byRichard Court.Barnett ran for the deputy leadership againstCheryl Edwardes,and after an initial 16–16 tie was elected bylot.[6]He retained responsibility for fuel and energy in the subsequent reshuffle of the shadow ministry, and was also given the state development portfolio.[4]

Court Government (1993–2001)

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After Court led the Liberals to power at the1993 state election,Barnett became Minister for Resources Development and Energy and later, Minister for Education and Minister for Tourism in theCourt–Cowan Ministry.He was also the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly and remained deputy leader of the Liberal Party. He was generally regarded as a competent and successful minister, and was associated with a number of important resource development projects.[7]

Opposition (2001–2008)

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The Court government was defeated at the2001 election.Court had a somewhat frosty relationship with Barnett and wanted to keep him from becoming leader of the opposition. While Court was from the conservative wing of the state Liberal Party, Barnett is from the moderate wing. Court engineered a plan to have federal MPJulie Bishopsucceed him instead. Under Court's plan, both he and Barnett would have resigned from the state legislature. Bishop would have resigned from federal parliament and handed her seat ofCurtin,the safest Liberal seat in the Perth area, to Barnett. Bishop would have then run in either Barnett's seat of Cottesloe or Court's seat ofNedlands,both reckoned as comfortably safe Liberal seats. Court would then hand leadership of the WA Liberals to Bishop once she was safely in state parliament.[8]When Barnett found out about the plan, he claimed to have "choked on hisWeet-Bix"at what he described as" an act of treachery or deceit. "[9]However, when Bishop rejected the plan, Court, finding himself in an untenable situation, resigned.[10]Barnett then took the leadership after defeating his only opponent Rod Sweetman.

At the2005 state election,Barnett proposed the construction of acanal from the riversof theKimberley Rangesin northern Western Australia to Perth to meet Perth's growing water supply problem. The proposal was costed by Barnett atA$2 billion, however it soon emerged that no feasibility study or detailed costings had been done.[11]Some experts put the cost as high as A$5 billion. The Prime Minister,John Howard,refused to commit federal funds to the project. He released the policy costings only a few days before the election, when a A$200 million error in the costings document was discovered.[12]When the Gallop government was returned with its majority intact, Barnett accepted responsibility for the defeat and resigned the Liberal leadership.[13]On 9 March 2005 Liberal MPs electedMatt Birney,the member forKalgoorlie,as Barnett's successor.

Barnett spent the next two years on the backbench—the first time in his career he had not been either a minister or opposition frontbencher. In November 2007, he announced that he would retire from politics at the next state election, at that stage due by May 2009.[14]

Premier (2008–2017)

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WA Government

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Barnett in 2012

On 4 August 2008,Troy Buswellresigned as Opposition Leader and two days later Barnett was re-elected unopposed to the Liberal leadership despite the fact that he had previously announced his retirement andDeidre Willmott(who would subsequently be appointed as his Chief of Staff)[15]had been endorsed in his electorate. On 7 August 2008, PremierAlan Carpentercalled an early election for 6 September 2008. Barnett led the Liberal Party to theelection,which saw a significant swing away from the incumbent Labor Party, leading to ahung parliament.The balance of power rested with theWA Nationals.While the federal Liberals and Nationals are in Coalition at the federal level, the WA Nationals do not necessarily follow their federal counterparts' lead politically, and leaderBrendon Gryllshad torn up the Coalition agreement a year earlier. Knowing that Grylls was in a position to effectively choose the next premier, both Barnett and Carpenter courted the Nationals' support.

A week after the election, the Nationals agreed to support the Liberal Party as a minority government. As part of the deal, Grylls and two other Nationals,Terry RedmanandTerry Waldron,accepted posts in Barnett's cabinet. However, the National ministers had only limitedcabinet collective responsibility,unlike past Liberal-National coalitions in Western Australia (and at most levels in the rest of the country), and the Nationals reserved the right to vote against the government on issues that affected their electorates' interests. Additionally, Grylls declined to becomeDeputy Premier,a post which went to Liberal deputy leader DrKim Hames.[16]Carpenter resigned rather than face certain defeat on the floor of the Assembly, and Barnett was sworn into office on 23 September 2008.

Barnett was the sole state premier opposed to Labor Prime MinisterKevin Rudd's key Health reform policy deal at the April 2010COAGmeeting. Barnett at the time led the only Liberal State Government in Australia, while all others states were led by Labor governments. The reasoning for Barnett's strong opposition towards the reform was because it would require the State Governments to forfeit a proportion of theirGSTrevenue. The Rudd government's proposal was that 30 per cent of the GST revenue pool was to be dedicated towards the Commonwealth's contribution for hospital services, which had a disproportionate impact on those States receiving a less than per capita share of the GST pool (for Western Australia, this would have resulted in an estimated 64 per cent of GST revenue being forfeit). Barnett had already been angered that Western Australia was given a decreased 7.1 percent amount of the GST revenue (lower than last year's revenue amount of 8.1 percent)[17]while Western Australia is a state that will be heavily relied upon for the nation's economic growth due to its booming resource sector. Western Australia therefore would be heavily dependent on GST revenue to fund major resource sector projects although they would not be supported by GST revenue, thus becoming extensive expenditure for the state.[18]

Barnett believed that if Western Australia had agreed to a proposition for the States to handover 30% of the GST revenue pool, the arrangement could eventually lead to the federal government being able to acquire 100% of the state's GST revenue. The reaction of Barnett towards the health reform has been considered by political writerPeter van Onselenas a preservation of the states' rights.[19]

From 27 April 2010, Barnett held theTreasury Portfolioafter the resignation of former Treasurer Troy Buswell. In a cabinet reshuffle he handed the portfolio toChristian Porterlater that same year.[20]Barnett returned to the treasury portfolio when Christian Porter suddenly decided to pursue a career in federal politics and resigned immediately from all his state ministerial portfolios on 12 June 2012. Porter's resignation saw Barnett serve as an interim Treasurer until he was officially replaced by Troy Buswell the following month on 7 July.[21]

Barnett led the Liberals to victory in the2013 state election,taking 31 seats on a swing of 8.8 points. This was theoretically enough for the Liberals to govern alone, and marked only the second time that the main non-Labor party in Western Australia had won a majority in its own right since adopting the Liberal banner in 1944. However, Barnett said after the election that the coalition with the WA Nationals would be retained.[22]According toABCelection analystAntony Green,Barnett would have been forced to keep the Nationals in his cabinet in any event. Even after the 2008 electoral reforms, rural areas are still significantly overrepresented in theLegislative Council.Green argued that the rural weighting in the Legislative Council makes it politically impossible for a Liberal premier to govern without National support, even when the Liberals win enough Legislative Assembly seats to theoretically govern alone.[23]

Controversial policies

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In October 2004, Barnett led a campaign to raise theage of consentfor homosexual acts from 16 to 18. This policy of recriminalisation was opposed by several major organisations, includingAmnesty International,theWorld Health Organization,and theAustralian Medical Association,as well as all other parliamentary parties, including the Nationals.[24]

In October 2009, Barnett announced a series of new policies relating to drug legislation including a repeal of theCannabis Control Act 2003.[25]The previous laws were formulated byGeoff Gallop's drug summit, taking input from experts such as academics, police, social workers, lawyers, medical professionals and members of the public.[26]Barnett has stated it is his intention to overturn these laws because of his beliefs and stated that the drug summit members made a mistake introducing them[27]and that cannabis was a "gateway drug".[28]To help with the enforcement of this new policy, Barnett also supported legislation to give police the power to search and seize property without any suspicion or belief that a crime has been committed.[29]A Liberal parliamentarian,Peter Abetz,voiced support for these laws in parliament by drawing reference to the workAdolf Hitlerdid to bring security toNazi Germany.[30][31]Barnett said that Abetz was making a valid point.[32]

In June 2013, Barnett said that Western Australia would not sign up to theGillard governmentGonski School Funding Reforms. Barnett said that he will not let the federal government govern schools.[33]

In December 2013, Barnett announced a controversialplan for great white sharks to be shotand disposed of at sea if they come within one kilometre of the coast of Western Australia, while acknowledging broad dissent in the community.[34][35][36]

In 2015, former Liberal leader Bill Hassell—who had preceded Barnett as the member for Cottesloe and "has a habit of excoriating Barnett in the media" according toThe Australian—labelled Barnett asocial liberaland a useful over-spender. Barnett claimed mining royalties were spent on "disability, mental health and other areas of social need". In December 2007 when former Liberal leader Barnett was once again abackbencherand contemplating political retirement, he claimed: "I'm disappointed that the Liberal Party has been taken over by hardline right-wingers" and "The party has become inflexible and has held a hard line on social issues, and that has not worked with 30-year-old voters" and "We should be more moderate on social issues. Saying sorry to Aboriginal people is part of that. We should have said sorry long ago".[37]

2016 leadership spill

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On 17 September 2016, Local Government MinisterTony Simpsonand Transport MinisterDean Nalderresigned from Cabinet.[38] Subsequently, a motion tospill the leadershipof the WA Liberal Party was brought by backbencherMurray Cowper.On 20 September, it was defeated 31 votes to 15. Nalder, who would have nominated against Barnett if the spill motion had passed, promised not to launch future leadership challenges.[39]

2017 election defeat and resignation from politics

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See also:2017 Western Australian state election § Polling

Most polls since Barnett's landslide victory in 2013 showed the Barnett government well behind Labor. ANewspollconducted from October to December 2015 and released in January 2016, revealing the government significantly trailing 47–53two-partyagainst theLaboropposition, representing a double-digit two-partyswingof more than 10 points since the 2013 election. Had this been repeated at an election, it would have been more than enough to deny Barnett a third term. Just prior to the 2013 election, Barnett was nominated Better Premier with a 21-point lead on 52 percent, with an approval rating of 51 percent and a disapproval rating of 36 percent. Since then, Labor leaderMark McGowanhas 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.[40][41][42][43]

On 11 March 2017, Barnett was swept from power in the largest defeat of a sitting government in Western Australia's history. The Coalition suffered a swing of 12.6 percent and lost 20 seats. Seven members of Barnett's cabinet, including Grylls, were defeated. The Coalition took a particularly severe beating in Perth. It went into the election holding 26 of the capital's 43 seats, but many Liberals in the outer suburbs sat on inflated margins. The Liberals suffered a 13.6 percent swing in Perth, and were cut down to just nine seats there, including Barnett's.[44][45][46][47][48]Accepting responsibility for one of the worst defeats of a sitting state or territory government since Federation, Barnett resigned as Liberal leader and returned to the backbench. He was succeeded as WA Liberal leader by his former Treasurer,Mike Nahan.

On 15 December 2017, Barnett announced his intention to retire from politics after Australia Day 2018. He resigned on 5 February 2018, triggeringa by-electionin his seat of Cottesloe.[49]

In December 2019, Barnett criticised Home Affairs MinisterPeter Duttonfor stating that the values of theChinese Communist Partyare "inconsistent" with Australian values.[50]

Honours

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Barnett was appointed as a Companion of theOrder of Australiain the2023 King's Birthday Honoursfor "eminent service to the people and Parliament of Western Australia, particularly as premier, to economic and infrastructure development, to social welfare reform, and to the Indigenous community".[51][52]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Carpenter, Alan:New western suburbs college opened[permanent dead link],Government of Western Australia,26 October 2001.
  2. ^Cameron, Eoin:Behind the names on the ballot sheet[permanent dead link],Australian Broadcasting Corporation,27 August 2008.
  3. ^Who's Who in Australia 2007.North Melbourne:Crown Content Pty Ltd. 2007. p. 198.ISBN978-1-74095-130-2.0810-8226.
  4. ^abcHon. Colin James Barnett MLA BEc (Hons), MEc,Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  5. ^"An audience with the emperor"Archived26 October 2017 at theWayback Machine,The Sydney Morning Herald,3 February 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^The Lawrence Government: Perspective by David Black - Part 3,Carmen Lawrence Collection, Curtin University Library. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  7. ^Barrass, Tony:Burke and the boom give Barnett a shotArchived12 August 2008 at theWayback Machine,The Australian,7 August 2008.
  8. ^Price, Matt(21 February 2001). "Court plots MP trade with Howard".The Australian.p. 6.
  9. ^Southwell, Michael (22 February 2001). "News had Barnett choking on Weet-Bix". p. 7.
  10. ^Shanahan, Dennis (23 February 2001). "Divided Libs sink Court's MP swap".The Australian.p. 1.
  11. ^O'Donnell, Mick:WA super canal to cost more than $2 billionArchived13 May 2011 at theWayback Machine,The 7.30 Report(ABC), 3 February 2005.
  12. ^Stanley, Warwick:How Colin Barnett has turned Liberal forturnes roundArchived8 September 2008 at theWayback Machine,The Sunday Times,4 September 2008.
  13. ^Colin Barnett resigns as Opposition leader,AM(ABC Radio),28 February 2005.
  14. ^Barnett to quit politics,Australian Broadcasting Corporation,27 November 2007.
  15. ^"Deidre Willmott".PerthNow.20 October 2008.Archivedfrom the original on 16 July 2018.Retrieved25 May2020.
  16. ^Nationals hand WA election win to the Liberals,Australian Broadcasting Corporation,14 September 2008.
  17. ^Angry Barnett lashes Rudd over GST cutsArchived1 March 2010 at theWayback Machine,26 February 2010
  18. ^O'Brien, Amanda."COAG ended up like Labor meeting: Colin Barnett",The Australian,22 April 2010.
  19. ^van Onselen, Peter."Barnett's prescription for keeping states' rights intact",The Australian,21 April 2010.
  20. ^Quinn, Russell:WA business happy with cabinet reshuffleArchived28 December 2010 at theWayback Machine,Perth Now, 14 December 2010.
  21. ^Barrett, Jonathan:Buswell to be reinstated as WA treasurerArchived16 January 2013 atarchive.today,The Australian Financial Review, 28 June 2012.
  22. ^David Weber (11 March 2013)."Counting resumes for WA election but won't change decisive Barnett victory".Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved11 March2013.
  23. ^Green, Antony(7 February 2013)."2013 WA Election Preview".Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Archivedfrom the original on 20 April 2014.Retrieved13 April2014.
  24. ^"Western Australia Liberals Will Recriminalise Homosexuality".Glapn.org.Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2009.Retrieved14 June2010.
  25. ^"Premier Colin Barnett to introduce tougher marijuana legislation | Perth Now".News.au. 11 October 2009.Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2009.Retrieved11 July2010.
  26. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 11 July 2009.Retrieved23 November2009.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^"WA Liberals vow to crack down on cannabis | Perth Now".News.au. 11 August 2008.Archivedfrom the original on 1 December 2008.Retrieved14 June2010.
  28. ^"PM – WA Liberals want to reintroduce criminal sanctions for marijuana use".Abc.net.au.Archivedfrom the original on 15 October 2008.Retrieved14 June2010.
  29. ^"Police empowered for West's drug war".The Australian. 12 October 2009.Retrieved11 July2010.
  30. ^"Hitler cited over stop and search laws – ABC Local – Australian Broadcasting Corporation".Abc.net.au. 11 November 2009.Archivedfrom the original on 13 November 2012.Retrieved14 June2010.
  31. ^[1][dead link]
  32. ^"ABC News".abc.net.au. 12 November 2009.Archivedfrom the original on 15 April 2014.Retrieved9 April2013.
  33. ^"Gonski education reform: Colin Barnett says WA won't sign on despite $920m incentive from PM".Abc.net.au. 12 June 2013.Archivedfrom the original on 18 November 2013.Retrieved12 June2013.
  34. ^Orr, Aleisha (27 December 2013)."Premier Colin Barnett defends shark killing as WA bait line locations revealed".WAtoday.
  35. ^"Shark bait points revealed - Yahoo!7".Archived fromthe originalon 29 December 2013.Retrieved2013-12-28.
  36. ^"The State Government announces where shark baited drum lines will be deployed".abc.net.au.27 December 2013.
  37. ^"Subscribe to The Australian | Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps".theaustralian.au.
  38. ^"WA Liberal leadership: Dean Nalder resigns, not ruling out leadership contention".ABC News.Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 September 2016.Retrieved14 November2016.
  39. ^"WA Premier Colin Barnett survives as spill motion defeated".ABC News.Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 September 2016.Retrieved20 September2016.
  40. ^Bowe, Author William (4 January 2016)."Newspoll: 53-47 to Labor in Western Australia".Archivedfrom the original on 21 September 2018.Retrieved25 May2020.{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help)
  41. ^"Untitled".10 January 2016. Archived fromthe originalon 10 January 2016.
  42. ^"Election battle looms as WA Labor pulls ahead in latest poll".abc.net.au.3 January 2016.
  43. ^"Poll result a 'wake-up call' for Barnett".PerthNow.4 January 2016.
  44. ^"Mark McGowan's Labor Party sweeps to power in WA".ABC News.11 March 2017.Retrieved31 March2017.
  45. ^Labor 55.5% 2PP vote and +12.8% 2PP swing sourced fromAntony Green's temporary estimate within provided ABC link published 30 March 2017, which states "The two-party-preferred count is based on estimates forBaldivis,MooreandRoe.Actual two-party-preferred counts for these seats will be available at a later date. –Final 2017 WA Election Results plus a New Electoral Pendulum: Antony Green ABC 30 March 2017Archived21 May 2017 at theWayback Machine
  46. ^Antony Green(16 March 2017)."The Role of One-Vote One-Value Electoral Reforms in Labor's Record WA Victory".ABC News (Australia).Archivedfrom the original on 16 March 2017.Retrieved16 March2017.
  47. ^"WA Election 2017".ABC News.11 March 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 11 March 2017.Retrieved12 March2017.
  48. ^"WA Election: Seventh minister lost in WA Liberals rout".ABC News.15 March 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 15 March 2017.Retrieved16 March2017.
  49. ^Cross, Daile; Daly, Jon (15 December 2017)."Former WA Premier Colin Barnett quits politics after 27 years".WAtoday.Archivedfrom the original on 16 December 2017.Retrieved16 December2017.
  50. ^Borrello, Eliza (9 November 2019)."Australia's states are growing closer to China as the federal relationship remains strained".ABC News.Retrieved10 November2019.
  51. ^"King's Birthday 2023 Honours - the full list".Sydney Morning Herald.Nine Entertainment Co. 11 June 2023.Retrieved11 June2023.
  52. ^Zimmerman, Josh (11 June 2023)."King's Birthday Honours: Colin Barnett appointed Companion of the Order of Australia for service to WA".The West Australian.Retrieved12 June2023.
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Parliament of Western Australia
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