Jim Brown (Western Australian politician) explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Jim Brown
Office:Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia
Term Start:20 February 1971
Term End:30 March 1974
Predecessor:Jack Stewart
Successor:Hendy Cowan
Constituency:Merredin-Yilgarn
Office2:Member of the Legislative Council
of Western Australia
Term Start2:22 May 1980
Term End2:21 May 1989
Predecessor2:Claude Stubbs
Successor2:None
Constituency2:South-East Province
Term Start3:22 May 1989
Term End3:3 March 1992
Alongside3:Caldwell, Charlton, McAleer, Wordsworth
Constituency3:Agricultural Region
Birth Date:5 April 1927
Birth Place:Merredin, Western Australia
Death Place:South Perth, Western Australia
Party:Labor

James McMillan Brown (5 April 1927 – 28 May 2020) was an Australian politician who served in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia, representing the Labor Party. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1974, and later served in the Legislative Council from 1980 to 1992.

Early life

Brown was born in Merredin, in the Wheatbelt, to Susan Marion (née Godridge) and William McMillan Brown. His family moved to Perth when he was a child, where he attended John Curtin Senior High School. In April 1945, after turning 18, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), although the imminent end of the war meant his time in the military was short-lived.[1] Brown played high-level Australian rules football as a youth, appearing in three senior games for during the 1949 WANFL season.[2] He moved to the country in 1950, initially running a store in Muntadgin with his brother, and later running a service station and Massey Ferguson dealership in Merredin.[1]

Politics

Brown first ran for parliament at the 1968 state election. He was preselected to replace Lionel Kelly (a former Labor minister) in the seat of Merredin-Yilgarn, but lost to the Liberal Party's Jack Stewart. Brown successfully recontested the seat at the 1971 election, winning 52.7 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. However, he held it only until the next election in 1974, when he was defeated by the National Alliance's Hendy Cowan.[3] Brown re-entered parliament at the 1980 state election, winning election to the Legislative Council's South-East Province. He was re-elected in 1986, and at the 1989 election (following electoral reform) transferred to the new five-member Agricultural Region. Brown was elected chairman of committees in the Legislative Council in August 1989, and held the position until his retirement from parliament in March 1992.[1]

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/102E6F89B6808B6A482577E50028A53F?OpenDocument James McMillan Brown
  2. http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/sn11/$FILE/SN+11+Footballers+in+the+House.pdf Footballers in the House
  3. Book: Black, David. David Black (historian)

    . David Black (historian). Prescott. Valerie. Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. 1997. Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. Perth, [W.A.]. 0730984095.