Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)

Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia
Incumbent Shane Love since 30 January 2023
Term length	While leader of the largest political party in the Legislative Assembly that is not in government
Inaugural holder	Henry Daglish
Formation	25 August 1905
Deputy	Peter Rundle

In the Australian state of Western Australia, the leader of the opposition is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia. By convention, the leader is generally a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Prior to 1911, the Western Australian political system had neither organised political parties (apart from the Labor Party) nor an organised opposition. The notion of leader of the opposition was well understood, however, and on occasions was applied to members. Maitland Brown, for example, was often referred to as "Leader of the Opposition" during his period as an outspoken critic of Governor Robinson's Government.

At the March 2021 election, the National Party, previously in the crossbench, won more seats than the previous opposition Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly. It was likely that the National Party would become the official opposition, with advice from the solicitor-general stating that "the party with the most numbers in the Lower House must under the law become the opposition". ^[1] In April 2021, the Liberal Party and Nationals Party entered into a formal alliance to form opposition, with National Party being the senior party and Liberal Party being the junior party in the alliance. ^{[2] [3]} The leader and deputy leader of the National Party, currently Mia Davies and Shane Love, would then be the leader of the opposition and deputy leader of the opposition respectively.

List of leaders of the opposition

№	Leader	Party		Constituency	Took office	Left office	Premier
1	Henry Daglish		Labor Party	Subiaco	25 August 1905	27 September 1905		Hector Rason (25 August 1905 – 7 May 1906)
2	William Johnson		Labor Party	Guildford	4 October 1905	27 October 1905
								Newton Moore (7 May 1906 – 16 September 1910)
3	Thomas Bath		Labor Party	Brown Hill	22 November 1905	3 August 1910
4	John Scaddan (I)		Labor Party	Ivanhoe	3 August 1910	7 October 1911
								Frank Wilson (I) (16 September 1910 – 7 October 1911)
5	Frank Wilson		Liberal Party	Sussex	1 November 1911	27 July 1916		John Scaddan (7 October 1911 – 27 July 1916)
–	John Scaddan (II)		Labor Party	Brown Hill-Ivanhoe	27 July 1916	16 April 1917		Frank Wilson (II) (27 July 1916 – 28 June 1917)
6	Philip Collier (I)		Labor Party	Boulder	16 April 1917	16 April 1924
								Henry Lefroy (28 June 1917 – 17 April 1919)
								Hal Colebatch (17 April 1919 – 17 May 1919)
								James Mitchell (I) (17 May 1919 – 16 April 1924)
7	James Mitchell		Nationalist Party	Northam	16 April 1924	24 April 1930		Philip Collier (I) (16 April 1924 – 24 April 1930)
–	Philip Collier (II)		Labor Party	Boulder	24 April 1930	24 April 1933		James Mitchell (II) (24 April 1930 – 24 April 1933)
8	Charles Latham		Country Party	York	24 April 1933	8 October 1942		Philip Collier (II) (24 April 1933 – 20 August 1936)
								John Willcock (20 August 1936 – 31 July 1945)
9	Arthur Watts		Country Party	Katanning	8 October 1942	1 April 1947
								Frank Wise (31 July 1945 – 1 April 1947)
10	Frank Wise		Labor Party	Gascoyne	1 April 1947	26 June 1951		Ross McLarty (1 April 1947 – 23 February 1953)
11	Bert Hawke (I)		Labor Party	Northam	26 June 1951	23 February 1953
12	Ross McLarty		Liberal Party	Murray-Wellington	23 February 1953	1 March 1957		Bert Hawke (23 February 1953 – 2 April 1959)
13	David Brand (I)		Liberal Party	Greenough	1 March 1957	2 April 1959
–	Bert Hawke (II)		Labor Party	Northam	2 April 1959	31 December 1966		David Brand (2 April 1959 – 3 March 1971)
14	John Tonkin (I)		Labor Party	Melville	31 December 1966	3 March 1971
–	David Brand (II)		Liberal Party	Greenough	3 March 1971	5 June 1972		John Tonkin (3 March 1971 – 8 April 1974)
15	Charles Court		Liberal Party	Nedlands	5 June 1972	8 April 1974
–	John Tonkin (II)		Labor Party	Melville	8 April 1974	15 April 1976		Charles Court (8 April 1974 – 25 January 1982)
16	Colin Jamieson		Labor Party	Welshpool	15 April 1976	21 February 1978
17	Ron Davies		Labor Party	Victoria Park	21 February 1978	18 September 1981
18	Brian Burke		Labor Party	Balcatta	18 September 1981	19 February 1983
								Ray O'Connor (25 January 1982 – 25 February 1983)
19	Ray O'Connor		Liberal Party	Mount Lawley	19 February 1983	15 February 1984		Brian Burke (25 February 1983 – 25 February 1988)
20	Bill Hassell		Liberal Party	Cottesloe	15 February 1984	25 November 1986
21	Barry MacKinnon		Liberal Party	Murdoch (1977–89)	25 November 1986	12 May 1992
				Jandakot (1989–93)				Peter Dowding (25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990)
								Carmen Lawrence (12 February 1990 – 16 February 1993)
22	Richard Court (I)		Liberal Party	Nedlands	12 May 1992	16 February 1993
23	Carmen Lawrence		Labor Party	Glendalough	16 February 1993	7 February 1994		Richard Court (16 February 1993 – 10 February 2001)
24	Ian Taylor		Labor Party	Kalgoorlie	7 February 1994	12 October 1994
25	Jim McGinty		Labor Party	Fremantle	12 October 1994	15 October 1996
26	Geoff Gallop		Labor Party	Victoria Park	15 October 1996	10 February 2001
–	Richard Court (II)		Liberal Party	Nedlands	10 February 2001	26 February 2001		Geoff Gallop (10 February 2001 – 25 January 2006)
27	Colin Barnett (I)		Liberal Party	Cottesloe	26 February 2001	9 March 2005
28	Matt Birney		Liberal Party	Kalgoorlie	9 March 2005	24 March 2006
								Alan Carpenter (25 January 2006 – 23 September 2008)
29	Paul Omodei		Liberal Party	Warren-Blackwood	24 March 2006	17 January 2008
30	Troy Buswell		Liberal Party	Vasse	17 January 2008	4 August 2008
–	Colin Barnett (II)		Liberal Party	Cottesloe	4 August 2008	23 September 2008
31	Eric Ripper		Labor Party	Belmont	23 September 2008	23 January 2012		Colin Barnett (23 September 2008 – 17 March 2017)
32	Mark McGowan		Labor Party	Rockingham	23 January 2012	17 March 2017
–	Colin Barnett (III)		Liberal Party	Cottesloe	17 March 2017	21 March 2017		Mark McGowan (17 March 2017 – 8 June 2023)
33	Mike Nahan		Liberal Party	Riverton	21 March 2017	13 June 2019
34	Liza Harvey		Liberal Party	Scarborough	13 June 2019	22 November 2020
35	Zak Kirkup		Liberal Party	Dawesville	24 November 2020	13 March 2021
36	Mia Davies		National Party	Central Wheatbelt	14 April 2021	30 January 2023
37	Shane Love		National Party	Moore	30 January 2023	Incumbent
								Roger Cook (8 June 2023 – present)

See also

• Premier of Western Australia

References

1. "McGowan promises funds for opposition despite loophole". The West Australian. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
2. "WA Liberals and Nationals enter alliance instead of formal coalition following electoral wipeout". ABC News. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
3. "WA Nationals, Liberals form alliance for opposition – just don't call it a coalition". WA Today. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

• "Leaders of the Opposition from 1905" (PDF). Parliamentary Library Western Australia. Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 9 November 2012.