Reece Raymond Whitby (born 29 May 1964) is an Australian politician. He has been 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 ...

since the 2017 state election, representing Baldivis. Shortly after the 2017 election, Whitby was appointed by

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 ...

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer and Minister for Energy and Finance, and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Environment and Disability Services. Whitby was successfully re-elected to the seat of Baldivis in the 2021 state election, and he was appointed to the

Second McGowan Ministry The Second McGowan Ministry is the 37th ministry of the Government of Western Australia. Led by the Premier Mark McGowan and Deputy Premier Roger Cook, it succeeded the First McGowan Ministry following the 2021 election and was sworn in on 19 ...

, becoming the Minister of Emergency Services; Racing and Gaming,

Small Business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

and

Volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group wikt:gratis, freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. O ...

. Whitby was raised in

Balga, Western Australia Balga is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, north of Perth city's central business district (CBD). Its local government area is the City of Stirling. Mark Irwin is the current mayor. The name "Balga" was adopted in 1954 a ...

, and attended North Balga Primary School and Greenwood Senior High School. Before entering politics he was a journalist at the

South Western Times The ''South Western Times'' is a weekly English language newspaper published for Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury and the South West (Western Australia), South West region in Western Australia. The newspaper was first published in 1888 and ...

in Bunbury, the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

and

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

. In 2008 and 2013 he ran unsuccessfully as the Labor candidate for the state Legislative Assembly

electoral district of Morley Morley is an Electoral districts of Western Australia, electoral district of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia. Morley existed as an electoral district from 1974 to 19 ...

. Whitby is married to District Court of Western Australia Judge Natalie Whitby. They have four children. Whitby is one of six Labor MP's in the current state parliament that is not factionally aligned as of 2021. Whitby worked for the

before his political career.

References

1964 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-WesternAustralia-MP-stub