James Andrew McGinty (born 22 September 1949) is an Australian former politician. He was a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

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 1990 to 2009, representing the district of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. He was Labor Party leader and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 1994 to 1996. He served as a minister, most notably as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, in the governments of

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...

and

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 ...

Early life

McGinty was born in the Western Australian town of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. He studied Arts and Law at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. Before entering politics, he worked as an industrial officer, then became Secretary of the Miscellaneous Workers' Union.

Career

First elected to parliament at the 1990 Fremantle state by-election, McGinty became a minister in the government of Carmen Lawrence in 1991. He was made the Minister for Housing, Construction, Services and Heritage. With the exception of the Services, which he relinquished soon after taking the Environment portfolio in late 1992, McGinty held all these portfolios until Labor's defeat at the 1993 state election. McGinty became leader of his party in 1994, succeeding Ian Taylor, only to be replaced by Geoff Gallop prior to the 1996 state election. The leadership change was due to a mutual decision between McGinty and Gallop in response to the fact that McGinty could not make a dent on the popularity of Liberal Premier Richard Court in opinion polls. Gallop had been McGinty's deputy and the two swap leadership roles with McGinty now becoming Gallop's deputy. McGinty however was replaced as deputy after the 1996 election by Eric Ripper. After Labor returned to power at the 2001 state election, McGinty was again on the treasury bench. He became the Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Legal Affairs, Electoral Affairs, Peel and South West. A reshuffle in 2003 saw McGinty remain Attorney-General and Minister for Electoral Affairs, as well becoming Minister for Health. He retained these portfolios until Labor's defeat at the 2008 state election. McGinty had stood down as ALP leader without having a chance of presenting his case to the people of why he should be Premier at the 1996 election. As minister in the Gallop Government the prospect of him finally becoming Premier became a real possibility when Premier Gallop stood down in 2006. McGinty however did not nominate to replace Premier Gallop as factional deals had ensured Alan Carpenter becoming the next ALP leader and thus Premier. During his time as Attorney General, Mr McGinty was recognised as a reformer. Achieving 'one vote one value' for the Legislative Assembly and Gay and Lesbian equality in the laws of Western Australia are widely seen as the hallmarks of his tenure. In addition, he established many new legal institutions, including the Corruption and Crime Commission, the State Administrative Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. As Health Minister, he was responsible for banning smoking in pubs and clubs, and for the health blueprint which has seen the creation of Fiona Stanley Hospital and the new Perth Children's Hospital as well as significant new facilities at all major metropolitan hospitals. In recognition of his contribution to law reform and the Parliament of Western Australia, Mr McGinty was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013.

Retirement

On 3 April 2009, McGinty announced his retirement from politics. This triggered a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for his district, in which Labor suffered a 16-point swing that delivered the seat to The Greens candidate, Adele Carles.

References

*''Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook'', excerpt "McGINTY, James Andrew, MLA" (availabl
online

Maxine McKew Maxine Margaret McKew (born 22 July 1953) is a former Australian Labor politician and journalist; she was the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the First Rudd Ministry and the F ...

, '' The 7.30 Report'' interview transcript, 2006-01-16
Western Australian ALP biography
*''Western Australian Electoral Commission''
District of Fremantle results
(published 2 October 2008). {{DEFAULTSORT:McGinty, Jim 1949 births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Australian people of Irish descent Attorneys-General of Western Australia People from Kalgoorlie Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Members of the Order of Australia