Barry John House (born 27 November 1949) is an Australian politician who was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member of the Legislative Council of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1987 to 2017. He was President of the Legislative Council from 2009 to 2017, and prior to entering politics worked as a schoolteacher.

Early life

House was born in

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

, Western Australia, to Molly May (née Jolliffe) and Edward Kenneth House. He attended

Busselton Senior High School , motto_translation = , established = , type = Public co-educational high day school , educational_authority = WA Department of Education , principal = John Watters , location = West Busselton, South West region, ...

before going on to further study at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

and Nedlands Teachers College. He was also a talented

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, touring South Africa with an Australian schoolboys team and playing at first-grade level in the WACA district competition. After graduating, House worked as a teacher for periods at Eastern Goldfields Senior High School, Kewdale Senior High School, and

Churchlands Senior High School Churchlands Senior High School is an independent public secondary school located in Churchlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately northwest from the Perth central business district. It is the largest school in Western Aus ...

and Busselton Senior High School. He returned to Busselton in 1979 to work as a youth education officer, and in May 1987 was elected to the Busselton Shire Council. However, he resigned only a few months later in order to enter parliament. – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 July 2016.

Politics

House entered parliament at a 1987 Legislative Council by-election for South-West Province, caused by the resignation of

Vic Ferry Victor Jasper "Vic" Ferry DFC (11 January 1922 – 29 July 2007) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1965 to 1987, representing South-West Province. Ferry was born in Albany, Wes ...

. At the 1989 state election, he was re-elected to the Legislative Council representing the new seven-member South West Region. House was subsequently included in the shadow ministry of

Barry MacKinnon Barry John MacKinnon (born 29 October 1944) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1977 to 1993. He was the state leader of the Liberal Party (and thus Leader of t ...

, and retained his place when

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, ...

became party leader (and thus

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

) in 1992. However, following the Liberal Party's victory at the 1993 election, he was not made a minister, but was instead made chairman of committees in the Legislative Council, a position which he held until 1997. – Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 July 2016. After the government's defeat at the 2001 election,

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

replaced Richard Court as party leader, and included House in his shadow ministry. He would remain a shadow minister until 2008, serving under four different leaders (Barnett,

Matt Birney Matthew John Birney (born 10 June 1969) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006. Birney was born in Sydney but ...

Paul Omodei Paul Domenic Omodei (born 26 May 1950), Australian politician, was the leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia from 24 March 2006 until 17 January 2008. Background Omodei was born in Manjimup, a town in ...

, and

Troy Buswell Troy Raymond Buswell (born 19 March 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2014, representing the seat of Vasse. He was Treasurer of Western Australia in the ...

). When the Liberal Party returned to power at the 2008 state election, House was not included in the new ministry, but was instead made a parliamentary secretary. However, in May 2009, following the start of a new term, he was elected President of the Legislative Council, in succession to

Nick Griffiths Nicholas (Nick) David Griffiths (born 24 December 1951) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing the East Metropolitan Region. Griffiths was born in Barry, Wales. Elected to Par ...

. He was re-elected to the position after the 2013 election, but in October 2015 announced that he would retire from parliament at the 2017 election.

Awards and honours

In 2021, House was awarded an honorary doctorate by

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Aust ...

, which was rescinded later that year in light of his opposition to LGBT rights during his political career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House, Barry John 1949 births Living people Australian schoolteachers Chairmen of Committees of the Western Australian Legislative Council Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia People from Busselton People stripped of honorary degrees Presidents of the Western Australian Legislative Council University of Western Australia alumni Members of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians

Early life

Politics

Awards and honours

See also

References