Richard Steele Shalders (born 14 March 1938) is a former Australian politician who was a

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 of the Legislative Assembly 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 1974 to 1983, representing the seat of Murray. He served as a minister in the government of

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 ...

. Shalders was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, and attended Midland High School before going on to

Claremont Teachers College Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...

. He worked as a schoolteacher from 1959, initially at Manjimup Senior High School, and eventually became a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

principal.Richard Steele Shalders
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 4 June 2016. A member of the Liberal Party from 1966, Shalders was elected to parliament at the 1971 state election, replacing the retiring Ewart Runciman as the member for Murray. He retained his seat at the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, and

1980 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1980. Africa * 1980 Angolan legislative election * 1980 Cameroonian presidential election * 1980 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 1980 Gabonese legislative election * 1980 Guinean legislative ...

. When Ray O'Connor replaced 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 ...

as premier in January 1982, Shalders was made an honorary minister in his new ministry. After a few months, he was made a substantive minister, taking over from Ray Young as Minister for Community Welfare, Minister for Housing, and Minister for Consumer Affairs. O'Connor's government was defeated at the 1983 state election. Shalders had attempted to transfer from Murray to the new seat of Mandurah, but lost to

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 ...

's John Read. He was one of four ministers to lose their seats, along with

June Craig Margaret June Craig AM (née Lynn; born 8 December 1930) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1974 to 1983, representing the seat of Wellington. She was a minis ...

, Bob Pike, and Ray Young. After leaving parliament, Shalders was involved with a variety of businesses in Mandurah, including a real estate company and a bakery.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shalders, Richard 1938 births Living people Australian schoolteachers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Governor Stirling Senior High School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia