Mike Nahan

The Honourable
Mike Nahan
MLA
33rd
Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia
Assumed office
21 March 2017
Premier Mark McGowan
Deputy Liza Harvey
Preceded by Mark McGowan
Treasurer of Western Australia
In office
17 March 2014 – 17 March 2017
Premier Colin Barnett
Preceded by Troy Buswell
Succeeded by Ben Wyatt
Western Australian Minister for Energy; Citizenship and Multicultural Interests
In office
21 March 2013 – 17 March 2017
Premier Colin Barnett
Western Australian Minister for Finance
In office
21 March 2013 – 17 March 2014
Premier Colin Barnett
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
for Riverton
Assumed office
6 September 2008
Preceded by Tony McRae
Personal details
Born Michael Dennis Nahan
(1950-07-02) 2 July 1950
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Political party Liberal Party
Spouse(s) Nyuk Nahan
Alma mater Western Michigan University
Australian National University
Profession Economist
Website mikenahan.com.au

Michael Dennis Nahan (born 2 July 1950) is an American-born Australian politician, serving as Western Australian Liberal leader and Leader of the Opposition since the 2017 state election. He has been Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Riverton since 2008. He served as the Treasurer of Western Australia from March 2014 until March 2017, during which time he supervised the loss of the state's triple-A credit rating.

Biography

Nahan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1950 as one of 13 children and grew up on a small farm, later graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics from Western Michigan University. After arriving in Australia in the late 1970s, he received a doctorate in economics from the Australian National University having previously completed a master's degree in agricultural economics.[1][2]

Nahan arrived in Western Australia in July 1982. He joined the Institute of Public Affairs, a libertarian think tank, as a policy director. Between 1995 and 2005 he was Executive Director of the IPA.[3]

State politics

Nahan entered politics at the 2008 Western Australian state election when he defeated incumbent Labor MP Tony McRae for the seat of Riverton.

Nahan served as the Trustee of the Parliamentary Superannuation Board and was Chairman of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee in State Parliament from November 2008 to August 2012.[2][4] As part of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee, Mike Nahan presided over the Kimberley Ultramarathon Inquiry, an Inquiry set up to understand why five individuals received extensive burns. It was later determined that the fire was caused by an out of control prescribed burn being conducted by FESA, El Questro, the WA Police and the Salerno family.

After the 2013 Western Australian state election, Nahan was appointed Western Australian Minister for Energy, Finance, and Citizenship and Multicultural Interests by Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett.[4]

Treasurer of Western Australia

Nahan was appointed as the Treasurer of Western Australia on 14 March 2014 following the resignation of Troy Buswell.[5] His first budget as Treasurer was delivered in May 2014.[6]

As Treasurer of Western Australia, Nahan presided over the loss of the state's AAA credit rating in August 2014 when state debt was downgraded to AA1 (further downgraded to AA2 in February 2016),[7] and an unemployment rate of 6.5% in March 2017.[8]

Leader of the Opposition

The Liberal government was roundly defeated at the 2017 state election, suffering the worst defeat of a sitting government in Western Australian history. Notably, the Liberals' support in Perth almost melted. The Liberals were cut down to only nine seats in the capital, including Nahan's. Following the defeat, Barnett resigned as WA Liberal leader and returned to the backbench.

Two days after the election, outgoing minister Bill Marmion indicated that Nahan had the most support in the much-reduced Liberal party room to succeed Barnett.[9] He was elected unopposed as Liberal leader, and hence Leader of the Opposition, on 21 March, with outgoing Deputy Premier Liza Harvey remaining deputy leader.[10]

Nahan has been compared to Ned Flanders, a character from The Simpsons, with The West Australian cartoonist Dean Alston drawing him in the style of the animated television show.[11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mike Nahan, Member for Riverton (13 November 2008). "Maiden Speech" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Western Australia: Legislative Assembly. pp. 35–38.
  2. 1 2 "About Mike Nahan". mikenahan.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "People & associates - Mike Nahan". Institute of Public Affairs. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Current Members - Hon. Dr Michael (Mike) Dennis Nahan MLA BEc, MS, PhD". Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Cabinet reshuffle: Nahan and Nalder the winners after resignation of Troy Buswell". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 March 2014.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, Andrew (8 May 2014). "WA budget 2014: Households set for financial pain as Government delivers slim surplus". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  7. ↑ "Moody's downgrades WA credit rating as commodities prices plunge; fears of debt blowout". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 February 2016.
  8. ↑ O'Connor, Andrew (4 March 2017). "WA Liberals wield double-edged sword as they target Labor's election promise costings". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  9. ↑ Perpitch, Nicholas (16 March 2017). "Mike Nahan firms as WA opposition leader". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  10. ↑ "Nahan replaces Barnett as WA Liberal leader". Sky News Australia. 21 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Strutt, Jessica (18 November 2017). "The challenge of selling 'Ned Flanders'". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Ned's final cut". The West Australian. Seven West Media. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  13. ↑ "WA's 'Flanders' jokes amid budget gloom". news.com.au. News Corp Australia. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Tony McRae		 Member for Riverton
2008–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Colin Barnett		 Leader of the Liberal Party in Western Australia
2017–present		 Incumbent
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
John Hyde		 Executive Director of Institute of Public Affairs
1995-2005		 Succeeded by
John Roskam
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.