Paul Papalia

CSC CSC, Csc or CSc may refer to: Awards * Conspicuous Service Cross (disambiguation) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (New York) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (United Kingdom) Science and industry * Cancer ...

(born 12 July 1962) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party 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 ...

since February 2007. Originally the member for Peel. He is now the member for Warnbro. A decorated former navy diver who served two tours in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, Papalia entered parliament after winning 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 ...

sparked by the resignation of scandal-tarred former minister Norm Marlborough.

Early life and naval career

Papalia was born in Bunbury, Western Australia and grew up in the nearby small town of Burekup. He served in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

for 26 years before entering politics, working as a navy diver and rising to the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. He specialised in explosives retrieval and escape and rescue. Papalia completed Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) selection and reinforcement training in 1988. He then served in 3 SASR Squadron in 1989 and 1 SASR Squadron in 1990 before returning to the Navy in 1991. In 1992 he served with the

United Nations Special Commission on Iraq United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 199 ...

to work as explosives disposal specialist, and was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in 1994 for his work there. Papalia later returned to

during the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, serving as executive officer in an Australian mine-clearing team. He left the navy in 2004, and operated a small business renovating houses up until the time of his election to parliament.

Political career

In November 2006, state Minister for Small Business Norm Marlborough resigned from parliament after it was revealed that he had lied to the

Corruption and Crime Commission The Corruption and Crime Commission is an independent anti-corruption agency established on 1 January 2004 to improve the integrity of the Western Australian public sector and investigate allegations of misconduct against public officers. It t ...

about his dealings with disgraced former

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

Brian Burke, thus triggering a

in his electorate of Peel. Peel had been held by the Labor Party since the seat's inception and was generally considered a safe Labor seat, but concerns about an electoral backlash over Marlborough's conduct led the party to look for a candidate without a political background. Papalia thus nominated for Labor preselection in the by-election, and was easily successful – despite having only joined the party weeks before – after receiving strong support from Premier

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 ...

. He went on to easily win the by-election, receiving a small swing in his favour in a seat that the government had feared they might lose. The district of Peel was abolished with effect at the 2008 state election. Papalia instead successfully contested the new seat of Warnbro, which covers much the same area. In March 2017, Paul was appointed as a Minister in the new McGowan Government, with the portfolios for Tourism, Racing and Gaming, Small Business, Defence Issues, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Following the March 2021 election, he was appointed as Minister for Police, Road Safety, Defence Industry and Veterans Issues. Papalia is one of six Labor MP's in the current state parliament that is not factionally aligned as of 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papalia, Paul 1962 births Living people Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Royal Australian Navy officers People from Bunbury, Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Australian politicians of Italian descent Australian people of Calabrian descent