The Minister for Tourism is a position in the

Cabinet of Western Australia The ministries of Western Australia (also known as Cabinets) are the centre of executive power in the Government of Western Australia. They are composed of Ministers who are responsible for one or more portfolios, answer questions on those portf ...

, first created in 1959 during the Brand–Watts Ministry under the title Minister for Tourists. The current title was adopted in 1971. The current Minister for Tourism is

Rita Saffioti Rita Saffioti (born 26 May 1972) is an Australian politician. Representing the Australian Labor Party, she has been the member for the electoral district of West Swan in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parli ...

of the Labor Party. The minister, who has generally held other portfolios in addition to tourism, is responsible for

Tourism Western Australia Tourism Western Australia is the statutory authority responsible for promoting Western Australia as a tourist destination. Its earlier predecessors included The Department of Tourism and the Tourism Commission. See also * Tourism Australia * ...

(previously the Western Australian Tourism Commission), the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

agency responsible for promoting Western Australia as a holiday destination and as an events venue.

List of Ministers for Tourism

Twenty four people have been appointed as Minister for Tourism or equivalent. The inaugural minister, Sir

David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Prem ...

, was also the longest-serving minister, serving for 11 years and 335 days. He was also premier during his time as tourism minister, which has since also occurred with Brian Burke,

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, ...

, and

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

. Barnett was briefly minister during the Court–Cowan government, from 1993 to 1994, and then served twice as minister during his own government (briefly in 2013 and then from 2016), a gap of almost 20 years.

Pam Beggs Pamela Anne Beggs (née Austin; born 23 May 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1983 to 1993, representing the seat of Whitford. Beggs was born in Inverel ...

and

Kim Hames Kim Desmond Hames (born 24 March 1953) is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2017. He served as a minister in the governments of Richard Co ...

also served non-consecutive terms as minister.Tourism Ministers of Western Australia
– Parliamentary Library of Western Australia. Last updated 29 June 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2015. In the table below, members of the Legislative Council are designated "MLC". All others were members of the Legislative Assembly at the time of their service. In Western Australia, serving ministers are entitled to be styled "

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

", and may retain the style after three years' service in the ministry.Addressing a Member of Parliament
– Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

List of assistant Ministers for Tourism

Ian Laurance Ian James Laurance (born 30 April 1940) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1974 to 1987, representing the seat of Gascoyne. He was a minister in the government ...

was assistant minister to

Ray O'Connor Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in ...

and Peter Jones during the last years of the Court government, led by Sir

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Court's family e ...

. O'Connor and Jones both held multiple other portfolios.

References

{{Western Australian ministerial portfolios

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

Ministers, Tourism Tourism in Western Australia