Kimberley Maurice "Kim" Chance (16 November 1946 – 22 February 2017) was an Australian farmer and politician who served as a Labor Party member of the

Legislative Council of Western Australia 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 1992 to 2009, representing Agricultural Region. He served as a minister in the governments of

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 ...

between 2001 and 2008.

Early life

Chance was born in

Perth, Western Australia 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 is ...

, the son of Hazel Isobel (née Prowse) and Geoffrey Maurice Chance. His uncle, Edgar Prowse, was a Country Party senator. Chance was raised on his father's property at Doodlakine, and then boarded at

Wesley College, Perth Wesley College, informally known as Wesley, is an independent, day and boarding school for boys and girls (co-ed to Year 6 and boys only Years 7–12), situated in South Perth, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The college is a Uniting ...

. He returned to Doodlakine to engage in

sharefarming Sharefarming is a system of farming in which sharefarmers make use of agricultural assets they do not own in return for some percentage of the profits. Sometimes the sharefarmer will receive a wage from the owner instead, although such a person is ...

, and later farmed on his own land, initially at Doodlakine and later at Carrabin. Chance served on the executive of the

Western Australian Farmers Federation Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFarmers) is an agricultural organisation in Western Australia. In the one hundred years of its existence, the various interactions with other groups, and the separation, then inclusion of political activit ...

, including as treasurer, and was a state delegate to the

National Farmers Federation The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian non-profit membershipbased organization that represents farmers and the agricultural sector in Australia. Historically, NFF was a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, inc ...

. He was also a board member of the Water Authority of Western Australia from 1985 to 1992, and a director of the

Avon Football Association The Avon Football Association is an Australian rules football competition in the Avon Valley region of country Western Australia. History The AFA was formed in 1959 through the merger of the East Avon FA (EAFA) and Avon Valley FA (AVFA). In ...

.Kimberley (Kim) Maurice Chance
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2017.

Politics

Chance joined the Labor Party in 1971. He first stood for parliament at the 1983 federal election, running for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the

Division of O'Connor The Division of O'Connor is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. It is one of Western Australia's three rural seats, and one of the largest electoral constituencies in the world. Geography Since 1984, federal el ...

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

for 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 ...

). Chance contested three more federal elections over the following decade (in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

), but lost to

Wilson Tuckey Charles Wilson Tuckey (born 10 July 1935) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2010, representing the seat of O'Connor in Western Australia for the Liberal Party. He was a minister in ...

of the

on each occasion. His share of the vote in O'Connor decreased at every election, both in terms of

first preferences In certain ranked-voting systems, a first-preference vote (or first preference, 1st preference, or primary vote) is the individual voter's first choice amongst (possibly) many. In certain ranked systems such as Instant-Runoff Voting or Single T ...

and on the

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

count, although this was consistent with Labor's nationwide trends. At the 1989 state election, Chance ran in second position in Labor's ticket in Agricultural Region. He failed to win election, but in March 1992 filled the

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

's retirement. Chance was re-elected as the lead Labor candidate in Agricultural Region at the 1993 state election, and at every subsequent election until his retirement. He was included in the shadow ministry in February 1994, when Ian Taylor replaced

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 ...

as leader, and served as a shadow minister under two more opposition leaders (

Jim McGinty James Andrew McGinty (born 22 September 1949) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and L ...

and

).Hon. Kimberley (Kim) Maurice Chance MLC
Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2017. Chance became Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council following Labor's victory at the 2001 state election, and was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Forestry, and Minister for Fisheries in the new ministry. His three portfolios were combined in July 2001, although fisheries was separated out again in March 2005 and given to Jon Ford. Chance also held responsibility for several of Western Australia's regions, subordinate to the Minister for Regional Development. He remained in the ministry until the Labor government's defeat at the 2008 state election, which he did not contest. His term ended in May 2009.

Later life

After leaving parliament, Chance served for periods as chairman of the Australian Landcare Council and chairman of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council. He also spent time as a food-security consultant in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, and helped establish a camel dairy in

Dandaragan Dandaragan is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The name of Dandaragan was first recorded in 1850 as the name of a nearby gulley and spring or watering hole known as Dandaraga spring. The word is Indigenous Australian ...

, the first such enterprise in the country."Purely by Chance"
''The West Australian'', 3 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2017."Taking a chance on camels"
''The West Australian'', 25 November 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2017. Chance died in February 2017, aged 70."Kim Chance, former WA ALP minister and camel dairy farmer, dies aged 70"
ABC News, 23 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017. He had married Susanne O'Rourke in 1974, with whom he had two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chance, Kim 1946 births 2017 deaths Australian farmers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Wesley College, Perth People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians