Bernard Kent Masters (born 14 July 1950) is a former Australian member of parliament who served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Western Australia The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

from 1996 to 2005, representing the seat of Vasse. He was a member of the

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 ...

until 2004, when he resigned to sit as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Early life

Masters was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, and graduated from 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 ...

in 1971 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree. After graduating, he initially worked as a geologist for Westralian Sands, a mineral sands company. Masters joined the public service in 1976, working as a wildlife officer and fisheries inspector. He returned to Westralian Sands in 1981, where he eventually came to hold senior management positions. He left the company in 1989 and thereafter worked as an environmental and geological consultant.Bernard Kent Masters
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 11 February 2017.

Politics

Having joined the Liberal Party in 1984, Masters first stood for parliament at the 1987 federal election, unsuccessfully contesting the Division of Brand against

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Wendy Fatin Wendy Frances Fatin (born 10 April 1941) is a retired Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was the first woman from Western Australia elected to the House of Representatives, representing the division ...

. He also ran at the 1990 federal election, standing in the unwinnable fourth position on the Liberal Party's

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

ticket in Western Australia. Masters had success with his third candidacy, winning the seat of Vasse for the Liberal Party at the 1996 state election. He was re-elected at the 2001 election, albeit with a reduced majority. Masters was subsequently included in the new shadow cabinet formed by

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 ...

, who had replaced

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, ...

as Liberal leader after the election loss.Mr Bernard (Bernie) Kent Masters MLA BSc, DipGem
Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 11 February 2017. Masters resigned from the Liberal Party in February 2004 after losing

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

for the 2005 state election to

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 ...

, and thereafter sat as an independent. At the election, Masters polled 20.6 percent of the vote, losing to Buswell on the

two-candidate-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

(2CP) count by just 209 votes. He subsequently served on the Busselton Shire Council from 2008 to 2009. Masters reprised his candidacy against Buswell at the 2013 state election, but polled just 8.0 percent on

first preferences In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

and failed to make the 2CP count. He later joined the

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is an Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protecting the right to farm, enhancing commercial and recreational fishi ...

, and contested the seat of Bunbury for that party at the 2017 state election."Bernie Masters to run for Bunbury in 2017"
''Bunbury Mail'', 6 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Bernie 1950 births Living people Australian geologists Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party politicians University of Western Australia alumni Western Australian local councillors 21st-century Australian politicians

Early life

Politics

See also

References