Robert Charles Kucera APM (born 6 November 1944) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly 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 2001 to 2008, representing the seat of Yokine. A high-ranking police officer before entering parliament, he served as a minister in the government of Geoff Gallop from 2001 to 2005, but resigned over a conflict of interest. Kucera represented the Labor Party for most of his career, but lost

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 ...

prior to the 2008 state election, and 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 ...

for the final months of his term.

Early life

Kucera was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales, to Norah Gertrude (née Williams) and Karel "Charlie" Kucera.Robert (Bob) Charles Kucera
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2016. His mother was Welsh, while his father was a member of the

Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ce ...

, and the two met while stationed at Pembroke Dock during World War II. Kucera's father returned to Wales after the war, and during his childhood the family lived for periods in Cardiff (including in

Llanishen Llanishen (Welsh language, Welsh Llanisien ''llan'' church + ''Isien'' Saint Isan) is a district and Community (Wales), community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 17,417. Lla ...

and

Cathays Cathays ( ; Welsh: officially ''Cathays'' but also , 'the constant meadow') is a district and community in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is an old suburb of Cardiff established in 1875. It is very densely populated and contain ...

) and in the small village of

Mamhilad Mamhilad ( cy, Mamheilad) is a village in the community of Goetre Fawr in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Location Mamhilad is two miles to the north east of Pontypool, Torfaen County Borough. History and amenities Mamhilad has a pub ca ...

. The family emigrated to Australia in 1964, settling 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 i ...

. Kucera joined

Western Australia Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

in 1966, and remained with the force until 2001, when he resigned to run for parliament. He was awarded a

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

to study policing overseas in 1991, and from 1999 to 2001 served as assistant commissioner to Barry Matthews. Kucera has been awarded the

Australian Police Medal The Australian Police Medal (APM) is awarded for distinguished service by a member of an Australian police force. The APM was introduced in 1986, and replaced the Imperial Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry and Queen's Police Medal for Distingu ...

, the National Police Service Medal, the National Medal, and the Western Australia Police Medal.

Politics

At the 2001 state election, Kucera was recruited by the Labor Party's leader, Geoff Gallop, to stand for the party in the seat of Yokine. He defeated the sitting

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member, Kim Hames, who had been a minister in the government of

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, ...

. Immediately after being election, Kucera was made

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in Gallop's new ministry. He served in the position until a reshuffle in June 2003, after which he was instead made Minister for Tourism, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Peel and the South-West. After the 2005 state election, another reshuffle occurred, with Kucera's titles becoming

Minister for Disability Services Minister for Disability Services is a position in the government of Western Australia, currently held by Stephen Dawson of the Labor Party. The position was first created in 1991, for the government of Carmen Lawrence, and has existed in every g ...

, Minister for Sport and Recreation,

Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests is a position in the government of Western Australia, currently held by Paul Papalia of the Labor Party. The position was first created in 1924, under the name Minister for Immigration, for ...

, and Minister for Seniors.Hon. Robert (Bob) Charles Kucera APM, MLA
– Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2016. In October 2005, Kucera resigned from the ministry after claims of a conflict of interest. He and his wife both held shares in

Alinta Alinta was an Australian energy infrastructure company. It has grown from a small, Western Australia-based gas distributor and retailer to the largest energy infrastructure company in Australia. It was bought in 2007 by a consortium including ...

, an energy supply company, when cabinet made a $90 million decision that would benefit the company. Prior to the 2008 state election, Kucera's seat, Yokine, was abolished in an electoral redistribution, and was largely split between the new districts of

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

and Nollamara. He contested Labor

for the seat of Mount Lawley, but lost to journalist and lobbyist Karen Brown, a supporter of

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

(who had replaced Geoff Gallop as premier in January 2006). As a result, he resigned from the Labor Party to sit as an

. He considered running as an independent at the election, but later announced his retirement from politics, expressing a desire to spend more time with his family. Kucera eventually rejoined the Labor Party, and in February 2012 was invited by the party's new leader,

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

, to again contest preselection in Mount Lawley. He was successful, but at the 2013 state election was easily defeated by the sitting Liberal member, Michael Sutherland.Mount Lawley (Key Seat)
WA Votes 2013, ABC News. Retrieved 13 July 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kucera, Bob 1944 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian people of Czech descent Australian police officers Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Cardiff Recipients of the Australian Police Medal Welsh emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians

Early life

Politics

See also

References