Steven James Robert Whan (born 11 February 1964) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

from 2011 to 2015. Whan represented the electoral district of Monaro in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for the Labor Party from

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

until his defeat at the 2011 state election. Whan served as Minister of Emergency Services, Minister for Small Business and Minister for Rural Affairs in the Rees and Keneally ministries from 2009 to 2011.

Early career and background

Born in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, he is the son of Bob Whan, a former member for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro. Steve Whan was educated at the Canberra

College of Advanced Education The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) which offer t ...

(now

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

). He graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences, majoring in Economics and Politics. In 1998, he received a Graduate Certificate in Management from the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

. Whan lives in with his wife and two children. From 1987 to 1988 Whan was assistant private secretary to

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

, Federal Minister for Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories. He later worked for senator

Bob McMullan Robert Francis McMullan (born 10 December 1947) is an Australian former politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. He was the first person to represent the Australian Capital Terr ...

until 1992. Between 1992 and 1994, Whan worked for

Ros Kelly Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments ...

, Federal Minister for Environment, Sport and Territories. He worked for the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...

from 1994 to 2001, and subsequently became a consultant on community relations and sport, before being preselected as a Labor candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Political career

Representing Labor, Whan contested Eden-Monaro, which was held by his father Bob between 1972 and 1975, at the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

federal elections, and was unsuccessful on both occasions. Whan was elected as the member for NSW state seat of Monaro at the 2003 state election. As the local member he secured funding for the rebuilding of Queanbeyan and Bombala Hospitals. He also guaranteed record levels of funding to the Kings Highway, increased local Rural Fire Service staffing numbers and new fire trucks, as well as funding to several local community organisations. In January 2009 Whan was appointed as the Minister for Emergency Services, Small Business and Rural Affairs in the Rees ministry. In December 2009 when

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...

became Premier he was made Minister for Primary Industry and Minister for Emergency Services and Rural Affairs. During 2010 he also added Mineral Resources and Forestry to the Primary Industries portfolio responsibilities. As Minister for Primary Industries he sought assistance for farmers and producers in NSW who were suffering one of the State's longest running droughts. Whan guaranteed stock and fodder subsidies for farmers and drought declaration assistance. Whan also oversaw the introduction of kilojoule labelling for fast-food chain restaurants so that customers were aware of the kilojoule content of the foods they were purchasing. At the 2011 state election, Whan was defeated in Monaro by a margin of 2 per cent, which was one of the lowest anti-Labor swings in the state. Less than three months later, Whan was appointed to the Legislative Council to fill a casual vacancy, succeeding Tony Kelly. Whan was immediately promoted to the shadow cabinet, becoming the shadow minister for Resources and Primary Industries, shadow Special Minister of State, and shadow minister for Tourism, Major Events, Hospitality and Racing. In 2014 he was preselected as the Labor candidate for the seat of Monaro at the 2015 state election. Prior to his preselection, Whan stated his intention to retire from politics if he did not win Monaro at the 2015 election. At the 2015 election, Whan was defeated for the second time by sitting member

John Barilaro Giovanni Domenic "John" Barilaro (born 14 November 1971) is a former Australian politician who served as the 18th deputy premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the National Party from 2016 to 2021. He wa ...

, by a margin of 2.53%. Barilaro improved the Nationals margin by 0.53%, even though the remainder of the state swung to the ALP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whan, Steve Living people 1964 births Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Capital Territory politicians People from Canberra University of Canberra alumni Western Sydney University alumni People from Queanbeyan