Michelle Roberts
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Michelle Hopkins Roberts (née Thomas; born 29 February 1960) is an Australian politician currently serving as
Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer in the Legislative Assembly. The office has existed since the creation of the Legislative Assembly in 1890 under the '' Constitution Act 1889''. The 31st and cur ...
. She has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly since 1994. She served as a minister in the governments of
Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...
and
Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...
between 2001 and 2008. In November 2015, Roberts became the longest-serving female parliamentarian in
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 ...
's history, breaking the record set by
Liz Constable Elizabeth Constable (born 2 December 1943) is a former Independent member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, firstly representing the seat of Floreat after winning it at a 1991 by-election following the resignation of Andrew Mens ...
. She was a high school teacher, civil servant and local government councillor before entering politics.


Early life

Roberts 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 ...
, Western Australia, to Frances (née Hopkins) and William Thomas.Michelle Hopkins Roberts
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
Her uncle, Chas Hopkins, served as
Lord Mayor of Perth __TOC__ The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods: *From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia *From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Pe ...
. Roberts completed her secondary education at Mercedes College and then went on to 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 ...
, graduating with a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree followed by a diploma in education. She taught at
John Curtin Senior High School John Curtin College of the Arts, originally John Curtin High School, is an independent, public co-educational, partially selective high school, located in East Street, , a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The school provides a general and ...
from 1983 until 1987. Roberts left teaching in 1987 to work for the Department of Parliamentary Services, where she stayed until 1989. She then spent periods as a policy officer for the Departments of Local Government (1989 to 1991) and Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare (1993 to 1994), as well as serving as a board member of the
East Perth Redevelopment Authority The Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA) was a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia. It was established on 1 January 2012 pursuant to the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority Act 2011 and reported to the Minister ...
from 1991 to 1993.


Politics


Early years

Roberts joined the Labor Party in 1978, and has served as a party official at both state and federal level. She was elected to the
Perth City Council 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 ...
in 1986 and served as a councillor until 1993, including as deputy lord mayor to
Reg Withers Reginald Greive Withers (26 October 1924 – 15 November 2014) was a long-serving member of the Australian Senate, a government minister, and Lord Mayor of Perth. Early life Withers was born in Bunbury, Western Australia. Withers was the son o ...
from 1992. Roberts first ran for parliament at the 1993 state election, standing unsuccessfully for the Legislative Council in fourth place on Labor's ticket in the
East Metropolitan Region The East Metropolitan Region is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Perth. It was created by the ''Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987'', and b ...
. She entered the Legislative Assembly the following year, winning the 1994 Glendalough by-election (caused by the resignation of former premier
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 ...
). Roberts was included in the shadow ministry of Ian Taylor a few months after her election, and remained a shadow minister under
Jim McGinty James Andrew McGinty (born 22 September 1949) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Lea ...
and
Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...
. She transferred to the seat of Midland at the 1996 state election, following the elimination of Glendalough in a redistribution.Hon. Michelle Hopkins Roberts MLA BA, DipEd
Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 31 January 2017.


2001–2008: cabinet minister

After Labor's victory at the 2001 state election, Roberts was appointed Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Local Government. She lost the local government portfolio to
Tom Stephens Thomas Gregory Stephens (born 15 November 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales Australia) is a former Australian parliamentarian. Early life and career Youngest son to John Joseph and Ellen Genevieve Stephens six children; five sons and one daugh ...
in a reshuffle in July 2001, at which point her other two portfolios were merged. In June 2003, Roberts was also made
Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...
and Minister for Community Safety. She lost the justice portfolio to
John D'Orazio John Biase D'Orazio (5 September 1955 – 11 April 2011) was an Australian politician who served as the member for Ballajura in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 10 February 2001 to 6 September 2008. He was a minister in the go ...
in a reshuffle after the 2005 state election. When Geoff Gallop resigned as premier and leader of the Labor Party in January 2006, Roberts was one of three candidates to replace him, along with
Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...
and
Jim McGinty James Andrew McGinty (born 22 September 1949) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Lea ...
. Both she and McGinty withdrew their candidacies before a formal vote was held. In the new ministry, Roberts became Minister for Housing and Works, Minister for Consumer Protection, Minister for Heritage, and Minister for Land Information. She was additionally made
Minister for Indigenous Affairs The Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Government of Australia is a position which holds responsibility for affairs affecting Indigenous Australians. Previous ministers have held various other titles since the position was created in 19 ...
in December 2006, although she lost the consumer protection portfolio. In March 2007, Roberts was also made Minister for Employment Protection, serving in that role until being replaced by Jon Ford in February 2008. She held her remaining portfolios until Labor's defeat at the 2008 state election.


2008–2017: shadow cabinet

After the 2008 election, Roberts was retained in the shadow cabinet of the new Labor leader,
Eric Ripper Eric Stephen Ripper (born 13 September 1951) is a retired Australian politician. From 2008 to 2012 he was Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia. He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper late ...
. She was initially given the education portfolio, but in February 2011 was promoted to shadow treasurer, replacing Ben Wyatt (who had unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership)."Ripper promotes leadership rival: analysts"
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 10 February 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
When
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 ...
succeeded Ripper as leader in January 2012, Wyatt returned as shadow treasurer and Roberts was instead made shadow police minister. She came close to losing her seat at the 2013 state election, eventually winning Midland by just 24 votes on the
two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...
count. This was a negative swing of 8.3 points from the 2008 election.


2017–2021: cabinet minister

Labor regained government at the 2017 state election, winning the largest majority government in the state's history at the time. Roberts herself saw off her 2013 opponent, Daniel Parasiliti, with somewhat less difficulty, picking up a swing of over 12 percent to turn Midland into a safe Labor seat at one stroke. She was appointed as Minister for Police and Minister for Road Safety in McGowan's government. With former Premier
Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...
's retirement from politics in 2018, Roberts became the Mother of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as its longest-serving member.


2021–present: Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

After Labor was re-elected with an even larger majority in
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
, Roberts was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the first woman to hold the post. Her ascension to the post came as a record 28 women were elected to the Legislative Assembly. In her first address as Speaker, Roberts said that she took up the post 100 years after
Edith Cowan Edith Dircksey Cowan (' Brown; 2 August 18619 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. Cowan h ...
became the first woman elected to a legislature at any level in Australia. "This is a clear signal to the community and to women of just how far we've come," she said, "but it has taken over a century to do it."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Michelle 1960 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian schoolteachers Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Public servants of Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Perth City Councillors Deputy mayors of places in Australia