Tom Stephens
Mining and Pastoral | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 November 1951 Labor Party |
Thomas Gregory Stephens ) is a former Australian parliamentarian.
Early life and career
Youngest son to John Joseph and Ellen Genevieve Stephens six children; five sons and one daughter. The family were living at the time on the
Stephens was first elected to the Legislative Council at a 1982 by-election for the seat of North Province, sparked by the resignation of Liberal MLC
Stephens served as a parliamentary secretary and as a minister in the Lawrence government in the 1990s; he was Leader of the Labor Opposition in the Legislative Council until the 2001 election of the new Labor government under Geoff Gallop, when he was elected into the ministry. He initially served as Minister for Housing and Works, and then later added Local Government and Regional Development to his portfolios. He also held the portfolios of the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne, Regional Development and Heritage.
In late 2004, the Labor candidate for the rural seat of Kalgoorlie for the 2004 federal election, Kevin Richards, died suddenly during the final stages of that Federal campaign.[2] Stephens, who was already preselected for the Legislative Assembly seat of Central Kimberley-Pilbara, was drafted as a last-minute replacement candidate for the Federal seat of Kalgoorlie. Stephens duly resigned from the WA State Cabinet and the WA Legislative Council, nominated and ran for that Federal seat; he was defeated at that contest by incumbent Liberal MP Barry Haase.[3] Stephens subsequently contested and won the WA state seat of Central Kimberley Pilbara at the 2005 election. He chaired the Education and Health Standing Committee until September 2008 and was elected as Member for Pilbara at the October 2008 elections and served as a member of the Standing Committee on Community Development & Justice. Stephens retired from the WA State Parliament at the 9 March 2013 WA General Elections, aged 61, having served in the parliament for more than 30 years. Stephens served on the Boards of Good to Great Schools Australia (Noel Pearson's Education Reform agency), DSF-SPELD (WA), Lost & Found Opera, IBN and previously served on the Board of Yindjibarndi CCL; he sings (as a bass) with the University of Western Australia Choral Society and is an avid cyclist.[4]
Stephens was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2014 Australia Day Honours for "service to Indigenous affairs, and to the Parliament of Western Australia".[5]
References
- ^ "Extract from the Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook". 2008. Archived from the original on 1 March 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
- ^ "ABC News Online - Labor preselects Stephens for Kalgoorlie". 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
- ^ "ABC News Online - 2004 Federal election". 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
- ^ "The Via Francigena: UK to Italy" (PDF). Luccagrapevine. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "STEPHENS, Tom". It's an Honour - Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet. Retrieved 14 July 2018.