June Dorothy van de Klashorst () (born 1 June 1938) is an Australian politician. She 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

Western Australian Legislative Assembly 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 1993 to 2001, representing the electorate of

Swan Hills Swan Hills is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is in the eponymous Swan Hills, approximately north of Whitecourt and northwest of Fort Assiniboine. The town is at the junction of Highway 32 and Grizzly Trail, and is surrounded by Big Lake ...

. She was Minister for Family and Children's Services, Minister for Seniors and Minister for Women's Interests in the

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

government from December 1999 to February 2001.

Early life

Van de Klashorst was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and arrived in Australia with her family in June 1951. She attended Princess May High School and Fremantle Technical School, and worked in secretarial and management roles before becoming a teacher.

Career

Van de Klashorst joined the Liberal Party in 1985, and was a founding member of the Gidgegannup branch. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1993 state election, winning the

electorate from Labor after the retirement of

Gavan Troy Gavan John Troy (born 31 May 1940) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1983 to 1993. He served as a minister in the governments of Brian Burke, Peter Dowding, an ...

. She served on the House Committee (1993–1994), Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation (1994–1996) and Library Committee (1997–1998). She also served on the Select Committee on Intervention in Childbirth (1994–1995), Select Committee on Heavy Transport (1994–1996) and the Select Committee on Crime Prevention (1997–1999). The pro-choice van de Klashorst played a significant role in the push to reform Western Australia's abortion laws in 1998 after two doctors were charged with criminal offences. She initially came out in support of Labor MLC

Cheryl Davenport Cheryl May Davenport ''née'' Crockenberg (born 19 January 1947) is a former Australian politician. She was born in Pinjarra and was an electorate officer before entering politics. In 1989 she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative ...

's bill to repeal the section of the Criminal Code that made abortion illegal, and planned to introduce the Davenport bill in the Legislative Assembly as a bipartisan effort. The Liberal-National coalition rejected van de Klashorst's position, instead deciding to move its own rival reform bill, to which van de Klashorst was reported to be "close to tears". In the subsequent debate, van de Klashorst successfully advocated an additional requirement that women be offered counselling when seeking an abortion. The reform push was ultimately successful, with a compromise passing both houses after the Legislative Council initially backed the Davenport bill and the Legislative Assembly the government bill. Van de Klashorst was Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister for Justice from January 1997 to December 1999, when she was promoted into the ministry after the resignation of

Rhonda Parker Rhonda Kathleen Parker, ''née'' Davey (born 7 September 1954) is a former Australian politician. She was born in Warragul in Victoria and arrived in Western Australia in 1967. Before entering politics she was a lecturer and a partner in a small ...

. She served as Minister for Family and Children's Services, Minister for Seniors and Minister for Women's Interests from 1999 until the 2001 state election, when she was unexpectedly defeated by 24-year-old Labor candidate

Jaye Radisich Jaye Amber Radisich (29 March 1976 – 17 March 2012) was an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, representing the electorate of Swan Hills. Radisich was the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van de Klashorst, June 1938 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly English emigrants to Australia People from Teddington 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly