Robert Frank Johnson (born 17 October 1943) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of

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 ...

from 1993 to 2017. He was elected as a member of 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 l ...

, and served as a minister in the government of

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 p ...

from 2008 to 2012, but resigned from the party in 2016 to sit as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

. He was defeated at the 2017 election.

Political career

Local politics

Johnson was born in London, England. At the age of 35, he was elected as a councillor for the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to ...

and subsequently became Mayor. Soon after emigrating to Australia in 1988, he was elected as a councillor to the

City of Wanneroo The City of Wanneroo is a local government area with city status in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is centred approximately north of Perth's central business district and forms part of the northern boundary of the Pert ...

in 1991. The following year he was elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Western Australian Parliament

Johnson was elected as the member for Whitford in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and, following a re-distribution of boundaries, was re-elected for the seat of Hillarys in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

. From December 1999 until February 2001, Johnson served in the

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...

Coalition government, as Minister for Works, Services, Citizenship and Multicultural Interests. He became Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Road Safety with the return to power of the Coalition in September 2008. Johnson supports reintroducing the Death Penalty, in 2007 he lobbyed the Western Australia liberal party to adopt a policy on capital punishment. In his first two years as minister in the new Barnett government, Johnson introduced 16 bills into the Legislative Assembly. Many of them were controversial and high-profile, including increasing the impounding period of a vehicle for anyone convicted of a "

hoon A hoon is an Australian term describing a person who deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally in order to provoke a reaction from onlookers. Hoon activities (or hooning) can include speeding, burnouts, dou ...

" offence. Other measures were to ensure motorists with a blood alcohol reading of 0.08 or above lost their licence immediately at the roadside, that all revenue from speed and red light cameras would go to road safety projects, and a proposal for Australia's first online sex offender register. In early 2011, political commentator Peter van Onselen named Johnson among Australia's "top ten politicians you could trust", writing that "he is real and what you see is what you get". Investigations following a major bushfire in the Perth hills in February 2011, with the loss of 71 homes, and another in the Margaret River area, resulted in severe criticism of Johnson, and he was removed from the Emergency Services portfolio. In May 2012, federal Liberal MP for

Canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, althoug ...

, Don Randall, attacked Johnson in Federal Parliament, labelling him bumbling, weak and incompetent. In turn, Johnson called for Randall to be sacked over the misuse of travel expenses. After a cabinet reshuffle by premier

in June 2012, Johnson was removed from the Police and Road Safety portfolio. At the 2013 Western Australian state election, he was re-elected to the seat of Hillarys.

Business career

After arriving in Australia, Johnson started a family business incorporating an investment firm and a national computer distributorship. He is a former chair of

Radio Lollipop Radio Lollipop is a charitable organization providing a care, comfort, play and entertainment service for children in hospital. It organizes Volunteer Playmakers to spend time with children in wards or in special play areas, taking its name fr ...

(Australia), a charity that cares for children in hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Rob Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Living people 1943 births Councillors in the London Borough of Sutton English emigrants to Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Western Australian local councillors Mayors of places in Western Australia