Rob Johnson (Australian politician)

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The Honourable
Rob Johnson
MLA
Minister for Police,
Emergency Services and Road Safety
In office
23 September 2008 – 29 June 2012
Member of the Western Australian Parliament
for Hillarys
Assumed office
14 December 1996
Preceded by New creation
Member of the Western Australian Parliament
for Whitford
In office
6 February 1993 – 14 December 1996
Preceded by Pam Beggs
Personal details
Born 17 October 1943
London, England
Nationality English–Australian
Political party Liberal Party of Australia
Profession Company chairman

The Honourable Robert Frank Johnson MLA (born 17 October 1943 in London, England) is an English–Australian politician, being a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Hillarys.

Political career

Local politics

At the age of 35 he was elected as a councillor to the London Borough of Sutton and subsequently became Mayor.[1]

Soon after emigrating to Australia in 1988 he was elected as a councillor to the City of Wanneroo in 1991. The following year he was elected Mayor.[1]

Western Australian Parliament

He was elected as the Member for Whitford in 1993 and, following a re-distribution of boundaries, was re-elected for the seat of Hillarys in 1996.[2]

He served in the Court government as Minister for Works; Services; Citizenship and Multicultural Interests from December 1999 until February 2001.[1]

Johnson became Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Road Safety with the return to power of the Coalition in September 2008.[2]

In his first two years as minister in the Barnett government, Johnson introduced 16 bills into the Legislative Assembly.[3] Many of them were controversial and high profile [4] including increasing the impounding period of a vehicle for anyone convicted of a hoon offence.[5] Other measures were to ensure motorists with a blood alcohol reading of 0.08 or above lost their licence immediately at the roadside,[6] that all revenue from speed and red light cameras would go to road safety projects[7] and a proposal for Australia's first online sex offender register.[8]

Investigations following two major bushfires fires with the loss of 71 homes in the Perth hills[9][10] and in the Margaret River area resulted in severe criticism and Johnson losing the Emergency Services portfolio.[11]

Before the findings of the inquiries in 2011, political commentator Peter van Onselen named Johnson among Australia's 'Top ten politicians you could trust', writing that "he is real and what you see is what you get".[12] The following year Federal Liberal MP for Canning Don Randall attacked Johnson in the Federal Parliament, labelling him bumbling, weak and incompetent.[13] In turn, Johnson called for Randall to be sacked over misused expenses claims.[14]

He was removed from the Emergency Services Portfolio on 6 December 2011 and the Police and Road Safety portfolio on 29 June 2012 in a Cabinet reshuffle by Premier Colin Barnett.[2][15][16] At the 2013 Western Australian State Election, Johnson was re-elected to the seat of Hillarys.[17]

Business career

After arriving in Australia he started a family business incorporating an investment firm and a national computer distributorship.[1]

He is also the current chair of Radio Lollipop (Australia), a children's charity that cares for children in hospital.[1]

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/pages/StatementDetails.aspx?listName=StatementsBarnett&StatId=4026
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Whitford
1993–1996		 Succeeded by
Seat abolished
Preceded by
New seat
 Member for Hillarys
1996–present		 Incumbent
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