David John Honey (born 18 April 1958) is an Australian politician who has been 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 ...

member for the

electoral district of Cottesloe Cottesloe is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Cottesloe is named for the western Perth suburb of Cottesloe which falls within its borders. Its previous member, Colin Barnett, was the 29th Premier of Western ...

in the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

since 2018. He was leader of the WA Liberal Party between March 2021 and January 2023, and was previously the Shadow Minister for Industrial Development, Water and Lands, and the Liberal Party's Legislative Assembly Policy Co-ordinator.

Education and early career

Honey completed a Bachelor of Science with first-class Honours and a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Western Australia, as well as being the UWA Science Union President. He has held technical roles including as a Forensic Scientist and Environmental Scientist with the State Government, and also formed the Hydrometallurgy Research Group for Western Australian Mining Corporation. Honey was formerly the Global Residue Manager for Alcoa's Refining operations, having overall accountability for the refining residue operations in the United States, Spain, Brazil and Australia. Prior to that role, Honey held senior management and technical roles in Alcoa. He joined Alcoa as a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Global Refining Centre of Excellence before moving on to the positions of Clarification Manager, Pinjarra Refinery, Digestion manager, Kwinana Refinery, Production Manager, Kwinana Refinery, and Western Australian Operations Residue Manager. From 2012 to 2018, he was the President of the Kwinana Industries Council, a lobby group representing chemical, petroleum, cement and other firms in Kwinana.

Political career

From 1994 to 1997, Honey was president of WA Liberal Party. During that time, he was aligned with controversial Liberal Party power broker

Noel Crichton-Browne Noel Ashley Crichton-Browne (born 2 February 1944 at Wiluna, Western Australia) is a former member of the Australian Senate and political lobbyist. Early life Crichton-Browne was educated at Scotch College, Perth. Before his career in politics ...

, but when Crichton-Browne made inappropriate sexual comments to journalist

Colleen Egan Colleen Egan was an Assistant Editor at ''The West Australian'' newspaper. She played a role in obtaining the acquittal of Andrew Mallard, a Western Australian man who had been wrongfully convicted of murder. She also unwittingly contributed to th ...

at a Liberal Party conference in July 1995, Honey initiated the successful motion to expel Crichton-Browne from the party. Honey later explained in March 2021, that as the party president, he had to deal with the issue of Crichton-Browne being a power broker and his "undue influence" over the party and preselections. Honey was elected to the

in the Cottesloe by-election on 17 March 2018, following the resignation of 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 ...

. At the 2021 state election, Honey was one of only two Liberals to hold their seats in the massive landslide victory by the Labor Party, and the only non-Labor MP from Perth. The other Liberal member,

Libby Mettam Elizabeth Mettam (born 3 May 1977) is an Australian politician. She has been the Liberal member for Vasse in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since a by-election held on 18 October 2014. She is the leader of the Western Australian L ...

, declined to contest the party leadership, leaving the position open for Honey when the party's parliamentary wing met to elect a leader on 23 March 2021. Upon his election as leader, Honey brought up his role in the expulsion of Crichton-Browne in 1995 as a reason why he should be leader of what remained of the WA Liberals, and vowed to oversee a "root and branch" analysis and restructuring of the party. In January 2023, Honey was challenged for the leadership by Mettam. Honey pulled out of the leadership contest on 30 January and Mettam replaced him as party leader unopposed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honey, David 1958 births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Alcoa people