James McMillan Brown (5 April 1927 – 28 May 2020) was an Australian politician who served in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia, representing the Labor Party. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1974, and later served in the Legislative Council from 1980 to 1992.

Early life

Brown was born in Merredin, in the Wheatbelt, to Susan Marion (née Godridge) and William McMillan Brown. His family moved to Perth when he was a child, where he attended

John Curtin Senior High School John Curtin College of the Arts, originally John Curtin High School, is an independent, public co-educational, partially selective high school, located in East Street, , a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The school provides a general and ...

. In April 1945, after turning 18, he enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF), although the imminent end of the war meant his time in the military was short-lived.James McMillan Brown
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 July 2016. Brown played high-level

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

as a youth, appearing in three senior games for during the

1949 WANFL season The 1949 WANFL season was the 65th season of senior football in Perth, Western Australia. Ladder Grand final References {{WAFL seasons West Australian Football League seasons WANFL The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an ...

.Footballers in the House
Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 September 2016. He moved to the country in 1950, initially running a store in

Muntadgin Muntadgin is a townsite off the Great Eastern Highway on Brissenden Road, situated between the towns of Bruce Rock and Southern Cross in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Muntadgin had a population of 51. Origin ...

with his brother, and later running a service station and Massey Ferguson dealership in Merredin.

Politics

Brown first ran for parliament at the 1968 state election. He was preselected to replace

Lionel Kelly Lionel Francis Kelly (22 January 1897 – 16 April 1977) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1941 to 1968. He was initially elected as an independent, but in 1946 joined the Labor ...

(a former Labor minister) in the seat of Merredin-Yilgarn, but lost to the Liberal Party's Jack Stewart. Brown successfully recontested the seat at the 1971 election, winning 52.7 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. However, he held it only until the next election in 1974, when he was defeated by the National Alliance's

Hendy Cowan Hendy John Cowan (born 25 April 1943) is a former deputy premier of Western Australia. He had served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the Member for Merredin-Yilgarn from 30 March 1974 and the Member for Merredin from 19 Feb ...

. Brown re-entered parliament at the 1980 state election, winning election to the Legislative Council's

South-East Province The South-East Province was an electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, introduced after the introduction of responsible government in the 1890s. It initially comprised Williams, Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( ...

. He was re-elected in 1986, and 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 * 198 ...

(following electoral reform) transferred to the new five-member

Agricultural Region The Agricultural Region is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the South West, Peel and part of the Great Southern regions of the state. It was created by the ''Acts Amendment (Electoral Re ...

. Brown was elected chairman of committees in the Legislative Council in August 1989, and held the position until his retirement from parliament in March 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jim 1927 births 2020 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Chairmen of Committees of the Western Australian Legislative Council Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at John Curtin College of the Arts People from Merredin, Western Australia Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II South Fremantle Football Club players

Early life

Politics

See also

References