Charles Leonard Smith (born 4 October 1970) is an Australian politician. He was elected at the 2017 Western Australian election to represent the East Metropolitan Region in the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

from 22 May 2017 for

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON or ONP), also known as One Nation or One Nation Party, is a right-wing populist political party in Australia. It is led by Pauline Hanson. One Nation had electoral success in the late 1990s, before sufferi ...

. In June 2019, Smith resigned from One Nation to sit as an independent. In May 2020 he joined the

Western Australia Party The Western Australia Party is a regional political party active in Western Australia. The party was founded in 2016 by Julie Matheson, a councillor with the City of Subiaco as Julie Matheson for Western Australia to contest the 2017 state ...

, and stood as their candidate at the 2021 state election, but was defeated.Western Australia Party's new Member of Parliament
/ref> During the election campaign, the

party arranged a preference deal with 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 ...

. Smith was one of a number of One Nation candidates who did not agree with the deal, and encouraged voters to make up their own minds. Prior to entering Western Australian state politics, Smith served as a police officer in Kalgoorlie, specialising in domestic violence and child protection work. He also worked for a period with the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum as a prospector approvals facilitator. In 2016, Smith unsuccessfully sought Nationals pre-selection for the federal seat of O'Connor. He subsequently left the Nationals, stating to the ''

Kalgoorlie Miner ''The Kalgoorlie Miner'' (commonly known as ''The Miner'') is a daily newspaper circulating in the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the Goldfields-Esperance region, in Western Australia. It is published Monday to Saturday by Hocking & Co. Pty L ...

'': "My politics is probably different from the National Party; it was more conservative anyway, hence the interest in what One Nation were doing." In his inaugural speech in the Western Australian Legislative Council, Smith called for tougher law and order measures to tackle crime and a state population policy to reduce growth pressures on

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 ...

. He also warned that community cohesion was in decline:

A growing chunk of the body politic lacks drive and common purpose. Many people feel that their country is at risk of losing the values that made it strong and had it being looked upon with jealous eyes from overseas. Many people feel that their country is slipping away, socially and culturally. They notice the decline in community-mindedness and watch as reminders of our Western Judeo-Christian and British heritage are erased from school curricula and the public sphere. They see the growing entrenchment of asymmetrical multiculturalism, consumerism and hyper-individualism.

On 11 June 2019, Smith informed the President of the Legislative Council that he had resigned from One Nation, citing a "long line of frustrations" with the party. On 12 May 2020, Smith joined the

and urged fellow independents to join the party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charles 1970 births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council One Nation members of the Parliament of Western Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians English emigrants to Australia People from Hitchin