Joseph Max Berinson (7 January 1932 – 2 June 2018) was an Australian politician who represented the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP) in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

and the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

. He was Minister for the Environment in the Whitlam government for several months in 1975, later serving a decade as

Attorney-General of Western Australia The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870 ...

Early life

Berinson was born on 7 January 1932 in his family home in

Highgate, Western Australia Highgate is an inner metro suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Vincent and north of the central business district of Perth. Highgate was named for the village of Highgate, Hawkhurst in Kent, England. Highgate is th ...

, a suburb of

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 ...

. His parents were Shulem (Samuel) Berinson, a master baker, and Rivka (Rebecca)

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Finkelstein, both of whom were

Palestinian Jews Palestinian Jews or Jewish Palestinians were the Jewish inhabitants of the Palestine region (known in Hebrew as ''Eretz Yisrael'', ) prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The common term used to refer to the Jewish commu ...

from the city of

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

. His father migrated to Australia in the early 1910s and his mother migrated to Australia in the early to mid 1920s. Berinson had two older sisters, Goola (born 1924) and Ethel (born 1925). Berinson attended Highgate Primary School and won a scholarship to attend

Perth Modern School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , location = Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , coordinates = , mapframe-stroke-colour = #C60C30 , mapframe-marker-co ...

. After matriculating in 1948, he studied pharmacy at Perth Technical College. He did training at a pharmacy in

Forrest Place Forrest Place is a pedestrianised square located within the CBD of Perth, Western Australia. The street was created in 1923, and has a history of being a focal point for significant political meetings and demonstrations. Description Forrest P ...

, where he gained his formative political experience. Forrest Place was the location of many political speeches and rallies, including by Prime Ministers

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

and

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

. Berinson labelled Menzies' speech as "very off-putting". In 1953, he graduated, began working as a pharmacist in

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, and jointed the Mount Lawley branch of the

. Over the years, he would have various executive roles in the Mount Lawley branch and the state executive. On 9 September 1958, Berinson married Jeanette Bekhor, whom he met at the Zionist Youth League, at the Perth Synagogue. They had three daughters and one son together. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Berinson built a high profile within Perth's Jewish community, eventually becoming the co-editor of the Jewish newspaper ''The Maccabean''.

Federal politics

In the 1962 state election, Berinson unsuccessfully stood for the unwinnable

electoral district of Mount Lawley Mount Lawley is an electorate in the state of Western Australia. Mount Lawley is named for the inner north-eastern Perth suburb of Mount Lawley which falls within its borders. The seat was created at the 2007 redistribution from parts of Yoki ...

, being beaten by the

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 ...

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 ...

. In the 1963 federal election, Berinson stood for the seat of

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

and was beaten by

Richard Cleaver Richard Cleaver (16 August 1917 – 25 October 2006) was an Australian politician. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he was educated at Perth Modern School before becoming a chartered secretary and accountant, and then a management consultant. ...

. Deciding that a law degree would help him in politics, Berinson started studying law at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

in 1967. Berinson was finally elected to a parliament on the 25 October 1969 federal election, where he was elected to the seat of

in the

. He defeated the sitting Liberal member, Fred Chaney Sr.. Berinson still had yet to complete his law degree when he was elected, so he continued his studies whilst a member of parliament and got his exams deferred to 1970. He would study on the plane to and from

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 ...

and in the Parliament House Library late at night. His lecturers would tape their presentations that Berinson was unable to attend. He finished the degree by the end of 1970, winning the H. C. F. Keall Prize for best fourth-year law student and the J. A. Wood Prize for best student in the humanities. Berinson was re-elected in the 1972 federal election, in which

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

was elected prime minister. Berinson was not elected to the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

and did not expect to either, but Whitlam was disappointed that he was not elected to the ministry. He was elected chairman of committees in February 1975. He was then appointed Minister for the Environment in July 1975, serving until the government's dismissal on 11 November 1975 and then losing his seat in the December 1975 election. After Berinson's defeat in 1975, he was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1977.

State politics

In 1980, Berinson was elected to the

representing the Council electorates of North-East Metropolitan (1980–1983), North Central Metropolitan (1983–1989) and North Metropolitan (1989–1993). With the election of Brian Burke as

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 ...

in 1983, Berinson was appointed

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. He served in this role under successive premiers Burke,

Peter Dowding Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who served as the 24th Premier of Western Australia, from 25 February 1988 until his forced resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parli ...

and

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

. While Attorney-General, he was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

(QC) in 1988. In 1991, he was identified as one of five members of the government most associated with

WA Inc WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie ...

transactions.

Later life

From 2001 to 2005, Berinson served as the president of the Jewish Community Council of Western Australia. Berinson died on 2 June 2018, aged 86. His burial took place the following day at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

. He was survived by his wife Jeanette and their four children.

Early life

Federal politics

State politics

Later life

Notes

Further reading