WA Governors and Members of Parliament
WA Governors
The constitutional law of Western Australia provides for a Governor to represent the Sovereign as Head of State. While Sir Gerald Strickland (1909-1913) was known to be interested in mechanical engineering and was an honorary member of the Western Australian Institution of Engineers (WAIE) from 1911 to 1915, only two of the State's Governors were professional engineers. The two Governors were:
- Lieut. General John Sanderson (18 August 2000 - 31 October 2005): and
- Dr Kenneth Comninos Michael (18 January 2006 - 2 May 2011).
Profiles for both Sanderson and Michael were included in the Centenary book 'Anything is possible'. A list of the engineers included in this book is available here.
Members of Federal Parliament
While there have been a number of qualified engineers from other States in the Federal Parliament of Australia, there have been very few from Western Australia. In 1903 Henry Saunders filled a casual vacancy in the Senate.
In the May 2022 Federal election, Engineer Zaneta Mascarenhas was elected in the seat of Swan to the Federal House of Representatives. Zaneta Mascarenhas is a science and engineering graduate from Curtin University. Zaneta's 15 year engineering career has seen her work on a construction site as one of only two women; volunteering in Bangladesh for the World Bank on their Water and Sanitation Program via AusAid; to helping companies with their climate change plans.
(Extracted from Engineers Australia Create Digital by Katie Goss, 9 June 2022)
Members of WA Parliament
Quite a number of engineers have been elected to the Parliament of Western Australia. The table below provides brief details of those who became members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or members of the Legislative Council (MLC).
| Title and Name | Lived | Sources | Discipline and Post Nominals | Engineers Australia Involvement | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| THOMAS, James Henry English (Mr) | 1826-1884 | ADB | Civil Engineer BE MICE JP MLC 1876 | WA Chief Engineer (1) 1884 WA Commissioner of Railways, Member of Executive Council, Member of the Legislative Council | |
| CAREY, Thomas Campbell, Mr | 1832-1884 | MBR | Draughtsman, surveyor, MLC | Lands Department. Member of the Legislative Council | |
| FRASER, Malcolm (Sir) | 1834-1900 | ADB | (CP) Surveyor and Engineer, KCMG, MLC | Surveyor General, Commissioner of Works, Administrator of Western Australia, Colonial Secretary, First Agent General for Western Australia, Member of the Legislative Council | |
| WRIGHT, John Arthur (Mr) | 1841-1920 | CWA, BAS, ADB | Civil Engineer, MICE MICEI RM, MLC | Commissioner of Railways, WA Chief Engineer (2) 1885 1890, WA Land Company, Constructed Great Southern Rail, Member of the Legislative Council | |
| KEANE, Edward Vivien Harvey (Mr) | 1844-1904 | ADB | Civil Engineer and Railway Contractor, JP, MLC | Built Perth to Guildford Railway, Built and financed Midland Railway, MP and Mayor of Perth, Built Perth Cathedral and Fremantle Town Hall, Member of the Legislative Council | |
| MASON, Clayton Turner,(Mr) | 1847-1911 | CWA, BAS | Railway Engineer, MICE ISO, MLC | WA General Manager Railways 1889, Acting Commissioner of Railways, Collector of Customs, Member of the Legislative Council | |
| MORGANS, Alfred Edward, Mr | 1850-1933 | MBR | Mechanical Engineer MLA | Associated with Bewick Moreing and Co, MLA Coolgardie, Member 1897 Royal Commission on Mining, Mayor City of Kalgoorlie, Vice President WA Chamber of Mines, Premier WA, Director Greenbushes Development Company, Consul for Austria, Spain and Agent for USA, Member Faculty of Engineering | |
| WRIGHT, James William, Mr | 1854-1917 | MBR | Architect and engineer, MLC | Built section of Guildford to Chidlow Wells railway. Member of the Legislative Council | |
| SAUNDERS, Henry John (Mr) | 1855-1919 | CP | Civil Engineer, Consulting Engineer and Company Director, AMICE, Senator | Partner Barret and Saunders, Mayor City of Perth, Commonwealth Senator for WA, Mining Investor | |
| LANE, Zebina Bartholomew, Mr | 1856-1912 | MBR, ADB | MLC | Mine manager, founding Member Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers, Mayor Broken Hill Municipal Council, assisted launch Great Boulder Gold Mines Pty Ltd, Director Collie Proprietary Coalfields of WA Ltd, Director Great Boulder Perseverance and land developer East Perth | |
| BELLINGHAM, George Henry John | 1862-1932 | MBR | MLC | Practised as mining engineer in other states. WA Lands and Surveys Dept. 1893 started civil and mining engineering consultancy in Coolgardie | |
| PRICE, James, Mr | 1864-1910 | MBR | Irrigation engineer,MLA | Not a significant contributor to the profession of engineering. Member of the Legislative Assembly | |
| BRIMAGE, Thomas (Mr) | 1866-1915 | MBR, RH DC | MLC | Consulting engineer, Coolgardie, Member of the Legislative Council | |
| ELLIOTT, Charles George, Mr | 1870-1938 | WAPH | Miner and engineer, MLC | “Tributer and engineer”; Member of the Legislative Council | |
| ROCKE, Samuel Matthew, Mr | 1874-1964 | MBR | Civil engineer, MLA | Described as engineer in 1921, but most of career seems outside profession. Member of the Legislative Assembly | |
| STEWART, Hector (Mr) | 1875-1931 | MBR | Civil, MCE (Melbourne), MLC | Farmed near Wagin and worked as a consulting engineer | |
| BUTCHER, Noel Albert, Mr | 1894-1968 | MBR | MLA | Was listed as engineer in 1926. Managed various mines. Member of the Legislative Council | |
| HERZFELD, Thomas Alexander Albert (Mr) | 1936-2023 | MBR | Civil Engineer, BE (Hons), MIEAust, MLA | Engineer PWD 1959-66 Engineer East Perth Rail Station (Maunsell) | |
| MARMION, William Richard (Hon) | 1954- | T100 | Civil Engineer, BE MBA Hon FIEAust MLA | WA Division President 1999 WA Chair CELM, Honorary Fellow 2013 |
Founder and Partner Syme Marmion, Member for Nedlands, Legislative Assembly WA Minister for Environment, Water |
Sources
| (Abbreviation) | Description |
|---|---|
| ADB | Australian Dictionary of Biography available at http://adb.anu.edu.au |
| BAS | Building a State – The story of the Public Works Department of Western Australia 1829 1985, JSH Le Page, Water Authority of Western Australia WA, 1986 |
| CWA | Cyclopedia of Western Australia, Volume 1 and 2, JS Battye, WA 1912 |
| T100 | Top 100 Engineers that used to be published annually by Engineers Australia in the EA Magazine |
| RH DC | Richard Hartley and Denis Cumming |
| MBR | Western Australian Government, Members' Biographical Register available at https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/ScreenMemberBios |
Other sources include the National Library of Australia Digital Newspapers at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/?q= and the National Archives Australia at http://www.naa.gov.au.
