Outspoken Liberal MP Rob Johnson has declared he’ll fight to keep his Hillarys seat, warning if the Liberal party dumps him he’ll still run as an independent.
Upper House MP Peter Katsambanis has announced that he’ll challenge Mr Johnson for his lower house seat. The Premier had previously voiced support for Mr Johnson to be replaced.
The former Police Minister and outspoken Liberal member first entered the Western Australian parliament in 1993 and was the Minister for Works, Services, Citizenship and Multicultural Interests during the last two years of Richard Court’s governments. When the Liberals returned to power in 2008 was appointed Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Road Safety.
Johnson faced severe criticism after 71 homes were lost in bush fires in 2011. Johnson lost the Emergency Services portfolio and Premier Colin Barnett subsequently dropped him as a minister when the cabinet was re-shuffled a year later. Mr Johnson had been an outspoken critic of the Premier and several government decisions.
The member for Hillary’s has previously been an outspoken critic of the LGBTIQ+ community arguing that LGBTIQ people try to persuade young people to become gay via the annual Pride parade.
During debate over the gay and lesbian reform bill in 2001, Johnson made several statements including ‘homosexuality is not normal’.
‘Any members on that side of the house who think that homosexuality is normal are living in cloud-cuckoo land,’ he said in 2001.
‘Members have to accept that homosexuality is not the norm.’
The member for Hillarys also accused homosexuals of wanting to ‘persuade young people to adopt their way of life’ and stated that ‘the whole purpose of the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras in Northbridge is to promote homosexuality.’
In 2011 the then Police Minister was accused of directing homophobic comments towards Labor member John Hyde during a parliamentary discussion. Mr Johnson denied calling Mr Hyde ‘a Queen’. At the time of the controversy Mr Johnson told OUTinPerth his views about the LGBTIQ community had not changed.
OIP Staff
