43 Facts About Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan was born on 13 July 1967 and is an Australian former politician and naval officer who served as the 30th premier of Western Australia from 2017 until his retirement in 2023.

Mark McGowan was the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party from 2012 to 2023 and a member of the Legislative Assembly for the district of Rockingham from 1996 to 2023.

Mark McGowan was elected as Leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia following the resignation of Eric Ripper, and became Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

Mark McGowan subsequently grew in popularity, and went on to lead Labor to a landslide victory at the 2017 election, winning the largest majority government in the state's history at the time.

Mark McGowan was appointed the 30th Premier of Western Australia.

Mark McGowan resigned as premier and as a member of parliament on 8 June 2023.

Mark McGowan was born into a family of Irish descent in Newcastle, New South Wales, and was educated at public schools in Casino and Coffs Harbour, before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1989 from the University of Queensland.

Mark McGowan joined the Australian Labor Party in 1984, stating that he was inspired by the leadership of Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

In 1994, after settling with his family in Western Australia, Mark McGowan was elected to the City of Rockingham Council, and in 1995 was appointed Deputy Mayor.

Mark McGowan was pre-selected to run for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in the seat of Rockingham at the 1996 election, following the retirement of long-serving MP Mike Barnett.

Mark McGowan was responsible for chairing the state's ANZAC Committee, the group managing the Western Australia's 175th anniversary celebrations in 2004, and for chairing the Bali Memorial Steering Committee.

Later that year, following Gallop's retirement, Mark McGowan was moved to the role of Minister for the Environment by new Premier Alan Carpenter.

In December 2006, following the resignation of Ljiljanna Ravlich, Carpenter appointed Mark McGowan to replace her as Minister for Education and Training.

The issue returned to the media spotlight when it was revealed that Mark McGowan had had some dealings over fundraising with the controversial politician Brian Burke during the 2005 election.

Mark McGowan did choose to contest the election for Deputy Leader, but lost to newcomer Roger Cook by 30 votes to 9.

In early 2016, Mark McGowan's leadership was briefly challenged by former federal minister Stephen Smith, who stated he had been approached by both frontbenchers and backbenchers to lead the party to the upcoming 2017 election.

However, the Labor shadow cabinet issued a unanimous statement of support for Mark McGowan and urged Smith to withdraw.

Smith withdrew his bid after it became clear he lacked sufficient caucus support, and Mark McGowan emerged from the episode with strengthened internal backing.

At the 2017 election, Mark McGowan led the Labor Party to one of its most comprehensive victories at either the state or territory level since Federation.

Mark McGowan's win was built primarily on the strength of a dominating performance in Perth.

Mark McGowan was sworn in by Governor Kerry Sanderson as the 30th Premier of Western Australia on 17 March 2017.

Early in his premiership, Mark McGowan moved to limit the number of pathways for foreign workers to enter the state, re-committed to terminating the controversial Perth Freight Link highway project, which had proved extremely unpopular in large parts of the state, and he restructured various government departments.

Mark McGowan introduced unlimited fines and life imprisonment for people deemed to be trafficking methamphetamine, and worked to expand Chinese investment in Western Australia.

Mark McGowan was the first ex-politician to become governor since Sir James Mitchell in 1948.

Mark McGowan's appointment was generally well received, although some people had reservations that a republican had become the Queen's representative and that Beazley was close friends with McGowan.

Mark McGowan had ministerial responsibility for the Perth Mint between the 2017 and 2021 elections.

In January 2021, Mark McGowan criticised the New South Wales Government's response and attitude towards the pandemic, contrasting it with that of his own Government's response.

Mark McGowan announced the formation of a panel to examine potential reform of the Western Australian Legislative Council voting system soon after the 2021 election, after denying he would implement reforms to the Legislative Council voting system several times during the election.

Mark McGowan and Electoral Affairs Minister John Quigley said the election of Wilson Tucker with 98 primary votes was a key reason for their change of mind.

In September 2021, Mark McGowan announced the changes to be made to the voting system, including abolishing regions in the Legislative Council, and removing group voting tickets.

On 13 December 2021, Mark McGowan announced that Western Australia would fully open its borders to COVID-19 vaccinated people from interstate and overseas on 5 February 2022.

On 20 January 2022, Mark McGowan reversed his decision on the plan for Western Australia to fully open its borders, saying that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was more contagious than previous variants of the virus and that the state's vaccination booster levels were not high enough to safely reopen to the world.

When Beazley's term as governor finished in 2022, Mark McGowan recommended WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson as his replacement.

On 29 May 2023, Mark McGowan announced he would step down as premier and member for Rockingham.

Mark McGowan cited his exhaustion from the relentless pressures of the job as the reason for his resignation.

Mark McGowan has advised BHP, Mineral Resources, and Bondi Partners.

Mark McGowan was appointed to the advisory board of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations.

Mark McGowan has said he does not miss politics and that he had "done everything I wanted to do [and] never wanted to go into federal parliament".

Mark McGowan has described his political strategy as "centrist", saying "you have got to appeal to everyone".

Mark McGowan credited that strategy as one of the reasons for his 2021 landslide election.

Since 1996, Mark McGowan has been married to Sarah Mark McGowan, with whom he has three children.

Mark McGowan was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to the people and Parliament of Western Australia, to public health and education, and to international trade relations".

Mark McGowan was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Tokyo City University in 2017 and the University of Western Australia in 2024.