Wendy Duncan | |
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| Member of theLegislative Assembly ofWestern Australia | |
| In office 9 March 2013 – 11 March 2017 | |
| Preceded by | John Bowler |
| Succeeded by | Kyran O'Donnell |
| Constituency | Kalgoorlie |
| Member of theLegislative Council ofWestern Australia | |
| In office 29 January 2008 – 21 May 2009 | |
| Constituency | Agricultural Region |
| In office 22 May 2009 – 12 February 2013 | |
| Constituency | Mining and Pastoral Region |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wendy Maxine Tonkin (1954-10-07)7 October 1954 (age 71) |
| Party | National |
| Alma mater | University of Western Australia |
Wendy Maxine Duncan (néeTonkin; born 7 October 1954) is an Australian politician who was aNational Party member of theLegislative Assembly ofWestern Australia from 2013 to 2017, representing theseat of Kalgoorlie. She was previously a member of theLegislative Council, representing theAgricultural Region from 2008 to 2009 and theMining and Pastoral Region from 2009 to 2013. She is a patron of the Earbus Foundation of Western Australia.[1]
Duncan was born inKalgoorlie, Western Australia, to Shirley Maxine (née Davies) and Stephen John Tonkin.[2] She and her siblings were raised on her parents'sheep station, and received their early education from theSchool of the Air. Duncan later boarded atMethodist Ladies' College inPerth. After leaving school, she spent a year in South Africa through theRotary Youth Exchange, and then enrolled at theUniversity of Western Australia, eventually graduating with aBachelor of Arts degree in politics and Australian history. Duncan worked for theNational Farmers' Federation inCanberra from 1977 to 1979, and also completed a postgraduate diploma at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (now theUniversity of Canberra).[3] Returning to Western Australia, she married Ian Murray Duncan in 1980, with whom she had four children, and then worked part-time at legal firms in Kalgoorlie andEsperance. She later worked in various administrative positions for theShire of Esperance.[2]
From 1994 to 1998, Duncan worked as a research officer forRoss Ainsworth, a long-serving Nationals MLA for theseat of Roe.[2] She joined the party herself in 2001, and from 2002 to 2003 served as president of the party's Esperance branch. Duncan served on the party's state executive from 2003 to 2004, and then from 2004 to 2008 served as state president, becoming the first woman to hold the position. During her presidency, she was one of the architects of the party'sRoyalties for Regions policy.[3] She first stood for parliament at the2005 state election, running second (behindMurray Criddle) on the party's ticket inAgricultural Region, but was not elected. She was also second on the party's ticket for theSenate at the2007 federal election, but neither her nor the lead candidate,Tony Crook, were elected. However, in January 2008, Murray Criddle resigned from parliament, with Duncan taking his position in the Legislative Council on acountback.[4] In her inaugural speech, she expressed concerns about foreign ownership of Australian resources,economic rationalism, the dominance of the two major parties and the neglect of regional and rural areas.[5]
At the2008 state election, Duncan transferred to theMining and Pastoral Region, allowing a former party leader,Max Trenorden, to take her old seat.[2] She was subsequently included inthe new ministry formed byColin Barnett of theLiberal Party, becoming parliamentary secretary to theMinister for Regional Development andMinister for Lands, and also assistant minister to theMinister for State Development and theMinister for Transport.[6] In April 2012, Duncan wonpreselection for theseat of Kalgoorlie at the2013 state election.[7] At the election, in April 2013, she received 56.3 percent of thetwo-candidate-preferred vote, becoming the first member of the party to win the seat since its creation in 1901. After the election, she was elected deputy speaker toMichael Sutherland.[6] Duncan stood for the deputy leadership of the National Party in November 2013, following the resignation of party leaderBrendon Grylls, but was defeated byMia Davies. Davies was also Grylls' replacement in cabinet.[8]
In December 2014, Duncan stated that she might consider becoming anindependent, having been overlooked a second time for a ministerial position during a cabinet reshuffle. She also warned her party not to "get too focused on agriculture. Royalties for Regions comes from mining and petroleum royalties, so don't turn your back on the regions they come from."[9] However, she re-affirmed her commitment to the party shortly after.[10] Duncan announced in December 2015 that she would retire from parliament at the2017 state election.[11]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Western Australian Legislative Assembly | ||
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| Preceded by | Member forKalgoorlie 2013–2017 | Succeeded by |
