Malcolm James Washer (born 12 August 1945), Australian politician, was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Moore,

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 ...

. He was born in Bunbury,

, and was educated 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 and various other facilitie ...

, graduating in 1970 with degrees in medicine and surgery. He was a general practitioner before entering politics. He is considered a moderate Liberal in a very conservative state and is supportive of socially liberal issues such as

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. During 2010 and 2011 he was the contact for the Australian Parliamentary Group on Drug Law Reform (APGDLR), a cross party group of 100 MPs from Australian State and Commonwealth parliaments. The group was set up in 1993 after a meeting in Canberra convened by Michael Moore (ACT Assembly) and

Ann Symonds Elizabeth Ann Symonds (; ''née'' Burley; 12 July 1939 – 15 November 2018) was an Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1982 to 1998. Biography Born in Murwillumbah, Ann Burley trained ...

(MLC, NSW). In August 2011, he announced he would not be contesting the next federal election. In March 2014, Washer announced his resignation as chair of the Alcohol and Other Drug Council of Australia. He said the reason was the "ill-informed" decision of Assistant Health Minister

Fiona Nash Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is a former Australian politician. She served as a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2017, representing the National Party. She was the party's deputy leader from 2016 to 2017 and was a ca ...

to cut the organisation's funding without notice, noting that her decision was "a bloody tragedy" which "wasn't subject to any review ... it was dumb advising dumber, and dumb won." As at January 2018, Washer was chair of ASX-listed AusCann, a medical cannabis company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washer, Mal 1945 births Living people Australian general practitioners Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Moore People from Bunbury, Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians