Kim Desmond Hames (born 24 March 1953) is an 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. For example, while the political systems ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1993 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2017. He served as a minister in the governments of

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party ...

and

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is an Australian former 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 ...

, and was deputy premier to Barnett from 2008 to 2016. Hames retired from parliament at the 2017 state election.

Early life

Hames was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to Eunice (née Jackson) and Reginald Hames. He attended Guildford Grammar School before going on to the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

to study medicine. After graduation, he worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

, which had also been his father's profession. Hames was elected to the Bayswater City Council in 1985, and served as a councillor until his election to parliament in 1993.Kim Desmond Hames
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2016.

Politics

Hames first stood for parliament at the 1987 by-election for the seat of Morley-Swan, but was defeated by the

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 ...

candidate, Frank Donovan. At the 1989 state election, he contested the seat of Perth, but lost by a narrow margin to Labor's Ian Alexander. Hames was successful in his third attempt to enter parliament, winning the seat of Dianella from Labor's Keith Wilson at the 1993 election. He transferred to the new seat of Yokine at the 1996 election, after Dianella was abolished in a redistribution. Hames was elevated to the ministry in January 1997, becoming Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister for Water Resources in the government of Richard Court.Hon. Dr Kim Desmond Hames MLA MBBS, JP
– Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2016. During his time as minister responsible for the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established b ...

, he was involved in the repatriation from England of the head of Yagan, a 19th-century

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

warrior. Hames remained in the ministry until the 2001 state election, when he was defeated in his own seat by Labor's Bob Kucera. The Court government was also defeated. At the 2005 state election, Hames was re-elected to parliament as the member for the seat of Dawesville (taking in the southern suburbs of

Mandurah Mandurah ( ) is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306. Mandurah's central business dis ...

). He replaced the retiring Liberal member, Arthur Marshall. Hames was included in the shadow cabinet immediately after the election, and went on to serve under four leaders of the opposition ( Matt Birney, Paul Omodei, Troy Buswell, and

). He was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party in January 2008, when Buswell became leader, and retained the deputy leadership when Buswell was replaced by Barnett later in the year. The Liberal Party formed government after the 2008 state election, with Hames becoming Deputy Premier,

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

, and Minister for Indigenous Affairs (for a second time) in the new ministry. In December 2010, he was also appointed Minister for Tourism. However, Hames resigned as tourism minister in July 2013, after being accused of abusing an accommodation entitlement. Later in the year, in December 2013, he replaced

Terry Redman Donald Terence Redman (born 16 April 1963) is an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from February 2005 to March 2021, representing the electorates of Stirling (2005–2008), Bla ...

as Minister for Training and Workforce Development. He eventually reclaimed his previous tourism portfolio in a December 2014 reshuffle, with

Liza Harvey Liza Mary Harvey (née Browne; born 25 October 1966) is an Australian politician who was the Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2008 to 2021, representing the seat of Scarborough. She was a minister in t ...

taking on the training portfolio. In December 2015, Hames announced his intention to resign as deputy leader of the Liberal Party (and thus also as deputy premier) with effect from February 2016. Liza Harvey was elected unopposed as his successor. Hames's term of seven years and almost five months as deputy premier is the most by any member of the Liberal Party, and he was the first Liberal since Cyril Rushton in 1983 to hold the position. He remained in cabinet until a reshuffle in March 2016. Hames retired from parliament at the 2017 state election, with Zak Kirkup succeeding him as member for Dawesville.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hames, Kim 1953 births Living people Australian general practitioners Deputy premiers of Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Guildford Grammar School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Western Australian local councillors Deputy mayors of places in Australia Ministers for health (Western Australia)