Ronald Thomas Leeson (born 26 February 1939) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of

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 ...

from 1971 to 1983, representing the

South-East Province The South-East Province was an electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, introduced after the introduction of responsible government in the 1890s. It initially comprised Williams, Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( ...

. Leeson was born in Laverton (a remote

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

town) to Amelia May (née Lawer) and George Thomas Leeson. He attended Eastern Goldfields High School before going on to the

Kalgoorlie School of Mines Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) was founded in 1902 as the ''Kalgoorlie School of Mines'' It was a tertiary school specialising in subjects directly related to the Western Australian mining industry. Originally located in Coolgardie, ...

, and subsequently worked as a

fitter and turner A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

. From 1967 to 1972, he also served as secretary of the

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

. Leeson was elected to parliament at the 1971 state election, replacing

Jim Garrigan James Joseph Garrigan (26 May 1905 – 5 April 1971) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who served as a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1954 until his death, representing South-East Province. ...

. He was re-elected to a second six-year term at the 1977 election. At the 1983 election, Leeson attempted to transfer to South Province, but was defeated by

David Wordsworth David John Wordsworth (born 9 June 1930) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division), Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1971 to 1993. He served as a m ...

(the sitting

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 ...

member). After leaving parliament, he was a committee member of the WA Greyhound Racing Board.Ronald Thomas Leeson
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 September 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeson, Ron 1939 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Laverton, Western Australia Trade unionists from Western Australia