Gordon Edgar Masters (born 30 August 1931) is a former 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 1974 to 1989, representing West Province. He was a minister in the governments of Sir

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Court's family e ...

and

Ray O'Connor Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in ...

. Masters was born in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...

, Hertfordshire, England, to Winnifred (née Batchelor) and Edgar John Masters. He attended

Berkhamsted School Berkhamsted School is an independent day school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. The present school was formed in 1997 by the amalgamation of the original Berkhamsted School, founded in 1541 by John Incent, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral ...

and the Hertfordshire Agricultural College, and then farmed locally until 1962, when he emigrated to Australia. Living on the outskirts of

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 ...

, Masters purchased a contracting business, and later diversified into beef farming. He served on the

Kalamunda Shire Council The City of Kalamunda is a local government area in the eastern metropolitan region of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about east of Perth's central business district. The area covers , much of which is state forest rising into ...

from 1969 to 1973, including as president from 1971 to 1973. Masters entered parliament at the 1974 state election, winning his seat from the Country Party. He was appointed

government whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

in the Legislative Council in 1977, and in 1980 was elevated to the ministry as Minister for Fisheries and Wildlife and Minister for Conservation and the Environment. When Ray O'Connor replaced Sir Charles Court as premier in January 1982, Masters was instead made Minister for Immigration and Minister for Labour and Industry. He held those positions until the government's defeat at the 1983 state election, and remained in the shadow cabinet until his retirement at the

1989 election The following elections occurred in the year 1989. Africa * 1989 Beninese parliamentary election * 1989 Botswana general election * 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election * 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * 19 ...

, serving under three different leaders of the opposition (Ray O'Connor,

Bill Hassell William Ralph Boucher Hassell, best known as Bill Hassell, (born 6 June 1943) is an Australian former Liberal Party politician who was Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia during the mid-1980s. He was a member of the Western Australian ...

, and Barry MacKinnon).Gordon Edgar Masters
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 14 May 2016.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Gordon 1931 births Living people Australian schoolteachers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Berkhamsted School People from Hemel Hempstead Western Australian local councillors