Minister for Regional Development (Western Australia)

Minister for Regional Development is a position in the government of Western Australia, currently held by Don Punch of the Labor Party. The position was first created in 1977, for the government of Charles Court, and has existed in most governments since then. The minister is responsible for the state government's Department of Regional Development.

Minister for Regional Development
Incumbent Don Punch since 14 December 2022 (2022-12-14)
Department of Regional Development
Style	The Honourable
Nominator	Premier of Western Australia
Appointer	Governor of Western Australia
Inaugural holder	Des O'Neil (as Minister for Regional Administration)
Formation	10 March 1977 (1977-03-10)
Website	Minister Alannah MacTiernan MLC

Prior to the creation of a regional development portfolio, there was a separate minister with responsibility for North-West Australia, called the Minister for North-West. That position has not existed since 1993. Additionally, in the Labor governments of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, either some or all of the regions of Western Australia had specific ministers.

List of regional development ministers

Ordinal	Minister(s)	Party		Office	Term start	Term end	Time in office
1	Des O'Neil		Liberal	Minister for Regional Administration	10 March 1977	5 March 1980	2 years, 361 days
2	Ray O'Connor		Liberal		5 March 1980	12 February 1981	344 days
3	Peter Jones		National Country		12 February 1981	25 January 1982	347 days
4	Barry MacKinnon		Liberal		25 January 1982	11 June 1982	137 days
1982–1983: responsibilities held by Minister for Industrial, Commercial, and Regional Development
5	Julian Grill		Labor	Minister for Regional Development	25 February 1983	25 February 1986	3 years, 0 days
6	Jeff Carr		Labor		12 May 1986	28 February 1989	2 years, 276 days
7	Gordon Hill		Labor		28 February 1989	19 February 1990	356 days
8	Pam Buchanan		Labor		19 February 1990	20 December 1990	304 days
1990–1995: responsibilities held by other ministers
9	Hendy Cowan		National	Minister for Regional Development	10 February 1995	16 February 2001	6 years, 6 days
10	Tom Stephens		Labor		1 July 2001	16 September 2004	3 years, 77 days
11	Kim Chance		Labor		16 September 2004	21 September 2004	9 days
12	Ljiljanna Ravlich		Labor		21 September 2004	10 March 2005	170 days
13	John Bowler		Labor		10 March 2005	3 February 2006	330 days
14	Jon Ford		Labor		3 February 2006	23 September 2008	2 years, 233 days
15	Brendon Grylls		National		23 September 2008	11 December 2013	5 years, 79 days
16	Terry Redman		National		11 December 2013	17 March 2017	3 years, 96 days
17	Alannah MacTiernan		Labor		17 March 2017	14 December 2022	5 years, 272 days
18	Don Punch		Labor		14 December 2022	incumbent	1 year, 343 days

List of ministers for specific regions

Gascoyne

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
26 November 1992	16 February 1993	Tom Stephens		Labor
1993–2001: no minister
16 February 2001	16 September 2004	Tom Stephens (again)		Labor
16 September 2004	21 September 2004	Kim Chance		Labor
21 September 2004	10 March 2005	Ljiljanna Ravlich		Labor
10 March 2005	23 September 2008	Jon Ford		Labor

Goldfields-Esperance

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
19 February 1990	16 February 1993	Ian Taylor		Labor
1993–2001: no minister
16 February 2001	1 July 2001	Clive Brown		Labor
1 July 2001	27 June 2003	Nick Griffiths		Labor
27 June 2003	16 September 2004	Tom Stephens		Labor
16 September 2004	21 September 2004	Kim Chance		Labor
21 September 2004	10 March 2005	Ljiljanna Ravlich		Labor
10 March 2005	2 March 2007	John Bowler		Labor
2 March 2007	23 September 2008	Ljiljanna Ravlich (again)		Labor

Great Southern

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
16 February 2001	10 March 2005	Kim Chance		Labor
10 March 2005	2 March 2007	John Bowler		Labor
2 March 2007	23 September 2008	Kim Chance (again)		Labor

Kimberley

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
16 February 2001	16 September 2004	Tom Stephens		Labor
16 September 2004	21 September 2004	Kim Chance		Labor
21 September 2004	10 March 2005	Ljiljanna Ravlich		Labor
10 March 2005	23 September 2008	Jon Ford		Labor

Mid-West

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
28 February 1989	5 February 1991	Jeff Carr		Labor
5 February 1991	7 September 1992	Gordon Hill		Labor
7 September 1992	26 November 1992	Ian Taylor		Labor
26 November 1992	16 February 1993	Tom Stephens		Labor
1993–2001: no minister
16 February 2001	23 September 2008	Kim Chance		Labor

North-West

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
17 May 1919	17 June 1923	Hal Colebatch		Nationalist
18 June 1923	15 April 1924	John Ewing		Liberal
1924–1933: no minister
24 April 1933	26 March 1935	Harry Millington		Labor
26 March 1935	15 July 1936	Frank Wise		Labor
1936–1939: no minister
29 March 1939	1 April 1947	Aubrey Coverley		Labor
1 April 1947	24 October 1950	Ross McLarty		Liberal
24 October 1950	3 January 1952	Garnet Wood		Country
17 January 1952	23 February 1953	Ross McLarty (again)		Liberal
23 February 1953	2 April 1959	Harry Strickland		Labor
1959–1971: no minister
12 October 1971	30 May 1973	Herb Graham		Labor
30 May 1973	8 April 1974	Arthur Bickerton		Labor
8 April 1974	5 June 1975	Alan Ridge		Liberal
5 June 1975	5 March 1980	Des O'Neil		Liberal
5 March 1980	12 February 1981	Ray O'Connor		Liberal
12 February 1981	25 January 1982	Peter Jones		National Country
25 January 1982	25 February 1983	Barry MacKinnon		Liberal
25 February 1983	25 July 1986	Julian Grill		Labor
25 July 1986	16 February 1993	Ernie Bridge		Labor

Peel

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
16 February 2001	27 June 2003	Jim McGinty		Labor
27 June 2003	10 March 2005	Bob Kucera		Labor
10 March 2005	3 February 2006	Mark McGowan		Labor
3 February 2006	9 November 2006	Norm Marlborough		Labor
9 November 2006	13 December 2006	Mark McGowan (again)		Labor
13 December 2006	23 September 2008	David Templeman		Labor

Pilbara

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
16 February 2001	16 September 2004	Tom Stephens		Labor
16 September 2004	21 September 2004	Kim Chance		Labor
21 September 2004	10 March 2005	Ljiljanna Ravlich		Labor
10 March 2005	23 September 2008	Jon Ford		Labor

South-West

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
25 February 1986	28 February 1989	Julian Grill		Labor
28 February 1989	16 February 1993	David Smith		Labor
1993–2001: no minister
16 February 2001	27 June 2003	Jim McGinty		Labor
27 June 2003	10 March 2005	Bob Kucera		Labor
10 March 2005	23 September 2008	Mark McGowan		Labor

Wheatbelt

Term start	Term end	Minister(s)	Party
26 November 1992	16 February 1993	Tom Stephens		Labor
1993–2001: no minister
16 February 2001	23 September 2008	Kim Chance		Labor

See also

• Minister for Energy (Western Australia)
• Minister for Mines and Petroleum (Western Australia)
• Minister for State Development (Western Australia)

References

• David Black (2014), The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook (Twenty-Third Edition). Perth [W.A.]: Parliament of Western Australia.