Minister for Education (Western Australia)

The Minister for Education of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of education, and is answerable to the Parliament for all actions taken by the Department of Education under their authority. The holder of the office is usually an elected member of parliament from the ruling party or coalition, presently Peter Collier of the Liberal Party, who succeeded Liz Constable in March 2013.

Until the Daglish Ministry in 1904, when the role was separately established, the responsibility for Education generally lay with the Colonial Secretary.

Ministers for Education of Western Australia

Minister	Party	Assumed office	Left office	Term	Title
George Shenton	(Forrest)1	29 December 1890	11 October 1892		Colonial Secretary
Stephen Henry Parker	(Forrest)	11 October 1892	4 December 1894		Colonial Secretary
Sir John Forrest	(Forrest)	4 December 1894	19 December 1894		Colonial Secretary
Edward Wittenoom	(Forrest)	19 December 1894	12 May 1897
Henry Lefroy	(Forrest)	12 May 1897	28 April 1898
George Randell	(Forrest)	28 April 1898	27 May 1901		Colonial Secretary
Frederick Illingworth	Opposition1	27 May 1901	21 November 1901		Colonial Secretary
Matthew Moss	Ministerialist1	21 November 1901	23 December 1901		Colonial Secretary
Frederick Illingworth	Opposition1	23 December 1901	1 July 1902		Colonial Secretary
Walter Kingsmill	Opposition	23 December 1901	1 July 1902		Colonial Secretary
Henry Daglish	Labor	10 August 1904	7 June 1905
Thomas Bath	Labor	7 June 1905	25 August 1905
Walter Kingsmill	Ministerialist	25 August 1905	7 May 1906
Frank Wilson	Ministerialist	7 May 1906	30 June 1909
John Nanson	Ministerialist	30 June 1909	7 October 1911
Thomas Walker	Labor	7 October 1911	27 July 1916
Hal Colebatch	Liberal (WA) / Nationalist	27 July 1916	17 June 1923
John Ewing	Nationalist	18 June 1923	15 April 1924
John Drew	Labor	16 April 1924	24 April 1930
Norbert Keenan	Nationalist	23 May 1930	19 September 1931
Thomas Davy	Nationalist	19 September 1931	18 February 1933
Hubert Parker	Nationalist	24 February 1933	24 April 1933
John Willcock	Labor	24 April 1933	26 March 1935
Harry Millington	Labor	26 March 1935	13 May 1936
Frank Wise	Labor	13 May 1936	18 April 1939
William Kitson	Labor	18 April 1939	9 December 1943
John Tonkin	Labor	9 December 1943	1 April 1947
Arthur Watts	Country	1 April 1947	23 February 1953
John Tonkin	Labor	23 February 1953	13 May 1954
Bill Hegney	Labor	13 May 1954	2 April 1959
Arthur Watts	Country	2 April 1959	1 February 1962
Edgar Lewis	Country	1 February 1962	3 March 1971
John Tonkin	Labor	3 March 1971	12 October 1971
Tom Evans	Labor	12 October 1971	30 May 1973
Jerry Dolan	Labor	30 May 1973	8 April 1974
Graham MacKinnon	Liberal	8 April 1974	10 March 1977
Peter Jones	National (NCP)	10 March 1977	5 March 1980
Bill Grayden	Liberal	5 March 1980	25 January 1982
Andrew Mensaros	Liberal	25 January 1982	25 February 1983
Bob Pearce	Labor	25 February 1983	25 February 1988
Dr Carmen Lawrence	Labor	25 February 1988	12 February 1990
Dr Geoff Gallop	Labor	12 February 1990	5 February 1991
Kay Hallahan	Labor	5 February 1991	16 February 1993
Norman Moore	Liberal	16 February 1993	21 December 1995
Colin Barnett	Liberal	21 December 1995	16 February 2001
Alan Carpenter	Labor	16 February 2001	10 March 2005		Minister for Education and Training2
Ljiljanna Ravlich	Labor	10 March 2005	13 December 2006		Minister for Education and Training
Mark McGowan	Labor	13 December 2006	23 September 2008		Minister for Education and Training
Liz Constable	Independent	23 September 2008	29 June 2012
Peter Collier	Liberal	29 June 2012	present

1. Politicians were not officially associated with organised parties until 1904.
2. The position was known as Minister for Education and Training from 14 January 2003 to 23 September 2008, when it reverted to its previous name. See

References

• (no ISBN)
• Hansard indexes and Western Australian Government Gazettes, 1890–2010