Gordon Hill (politician)
Gordon Hill | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia | |
| In office 13 March 1982 – 19 February 1983 | |
| Preceded by | John Skidmore |
| Succeeded by | None (abolished) |
| Constituency | Swan |
| In office 19 February 1983 – 4 August 1994 | |
| Preceded by | None (new creation) |
| Succeeded by | Rhonda Parker |
| Constituency | Helena |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 May 1951 Collie, Western Australia, Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Alma mater | University of Western Australia Murdoch University |
Gordon Leslie Hill (born 16 May 1951) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1982 to 1994. He served as a minister in the governments of Brian Burke, Peter Dowding, and Carmen Lawrence.
Hill was born in Collie, in Western Australia's South West region. He attended Collie Senior High School before going on to Claremont Teachers College and the University of Western Australia, where he trained as a schoolteacher. Hill left the teaching profession in 1975 to work as a research officer at the federal Department of Environment, under Joe Berinson. Having joined the Labor Party in 1967, he served as assistant state secretary from 1977 to 1983, and was also involved with the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union.[1] Hill was elected to state parliament at the 1982 Swan by-election, necessitated by the resignation of the sitting member, John Skidmore. He successfully transferred to the new seat of Helena at the 1983 state election, which he would hold for the rest of his time in parliament.[2]
After the 1986 election, where he slightly increased his majority, Hill was elevated to the ministry, serving as Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs in the Burke ministry. He was retained as a minister in the Dowding ministry (from 1988 to 1990) and Lawrence ministry (from 1990 to 1993), holding a variety of different portfolios.[1] Hill left politics in August 1994, having only narrowly defeated the Liberal candidate, Rhonda Parker, at the 1993 state election. Parker won the seat at the resulting by-election, defeating the Labor candidate, Joe Bullock.[2] After his retirement, Hill gained a law degree from Murdoch University, and established a legal practice in Dunsborough.[1]
In the early 2000s, Hill was made a director of Firepower International, serving until the company's collapse in 2007. Some of the company's investors later launched a civil suit against him, which resulted in him declaring bankruptcy in 2010.[3] In April 2016, the Supreme Court of Western Australia found that Hill had defrauded investors of approximately A$4.3 million, and he was ordered to repay that amount.[4]
References
- ^ a b c Gordon Leslie Hill – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- ^ a b Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, [W.A.]: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0730984095.
- ^ (3 March 2010). "Former minister's bankruptcy declaration" – ABC News. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- ^ Rebecca Turner (21 April 2016). "Former WA minister Gordon Hill defrauded Firepower investors of $3.4m, court finds" – ABC News. Retrieved 11 May 2016.