Mark McGowan was born in New South Wales and after graduating in law from the University of Queensland. served for seven years in the navy as a legal officer before entering Parliament in 1996 as MLA for Rockingham. In 1997 he was awarded the Governor-General's Commendation for Bravery. Between 2001 and 2008 he served in a variety of ministerial posts in both the Gallop and Carpenter Governments including four years as Parliamentary Secretary to Geoff Gallop as Premier. From December 2006 to 2008 he was Minister for Education and Training and for the South West.

Few people in the history of Western Australian politics have endured more or achieved more than Geoff Gallop.

Geoff came to the leadership of the Labor Party in circumstances of great adversity and left after 10 years, triumphant with two convincing election victories under his belt.

He took the State ALP from an historic low number of seats to an historic high in the course of four years.

His success in reinstating Labor as competitive and competent when it risked lapsing into irrelevance is one of his greatest achievements and a major contribution to parliamentary democracy in WA.

On coming to office, he was confronted with a State in recession, a budget in deficit, an immediately hostile media and a comprehensive program that required enormous effort to implement.

Mark McGowan.
Photograph courtesy Mark McGowan.

He showed once again that government can be a force for good and change people's lives and the State's fortunes for the better.

His Government's record on economic management, social and economic reforms, public projects and environmental improvement is extensive and virtually unparalleled.

Converting the budget from deficit to surplus, the biggest infrastructure program in the State's history, a reorganisation of government departments and approvals, the emphasis on training Western Australians for our jobs, civil liability reform and an emphasis on competition in the provision of electricity. An economic reform record unparalleled in modern history.

His Government had huge success in passing much-contested reforms to create a democratic electoral system at least in the lower house and a progressive social reform record to bring Western Australia into the modern age. Furthermore his Government legislatively ensured West Australian students will stay in education longer.

Brave capital works leaving a lasting legacy for the State. The largest hospital and school rebuilding program in the State’s history. The historic southern railway marked by a courageous change of route to bring it directly into the city combined with the doubling in the number of railcars. The dazzling new desalination plant producing fresh waster independently of weather and now being copied by virtually every other state. Both the rail and desalination projects were vehemently opposed every step of the way by conservatives but have ultimately proven visionary.

The preservation of the State’s old growth forests, the expansion of our marine park system, especially at Ningaloo, and the toughening of environmental laws are lasting legacies for the future.

One area that his Government put enormous effort into was helping those in need. The Gallop Government repealed the particularly vicious form of workplace agreements put in place by its predecessors. This especially provided a benefit to lower paid workers in WA.

Every year additional resources were put into the area of disabilities. This meant huge additional effort in providing support and respite to families of those with high care needs.

His Government also remained resolute in its recognition of the rights of Aboriginal people. He inherited a political environment of hostility to the land claims of Aboriginal people. His government showed that Aboriginal people could be granted title to their land and the economy could still be successful. Numerous native title claims were granted and thousands of Aboriginal people had their land aspirations met.

It is impossible to catalogue the Gallop Government achievements in a few short paragraphs. However it was characterised by courage of conviction, an emphasis on helping those in need and a desire to leave a lasting legacy for WA.

At a personal level Geoff remained throughout, a fundamentally decent man with very high standards of personal conduct and a huge work ethic and commitment to the State.