Dean Nalder

Dean Cambell Nalder (born 5 February 1966) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia since 2013, representing the seat of Alfred Cove. He served as a minister in the government of Colin Barnett from March 2014 to September 2016.

Early life

Nalder was born in Narrogin, in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region.^[1] His father, Cambell Nalder, and grandfather, Crawford Nalder, were both National Party members of parliament.^[2][3] Nalder was educated at Wesley College, Perth, and the Curtin University of Technology. He holds a bachelor's degree in business and a graduate diploma in applied finance.^[4] Between 1988 and 1991, Nalder played semi-professional Australian rules football, appearing in 30 matches for South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).^[5]

Politics

Nalder entered parliament at the 2013 state election, winning the seat of Alfred Cove from the independent incumbent Janet Woollard. Following the resignation of Troy Buswell from the Barnett Ministry on 10 March 2014, Nalder was appointed Minister for Transport and Minister for Finance. He replaced Mike Nahan (who had been elevated to Treasurer) in the latter position.^[1]

Nalder was removed as Minister of Finance in December 2014 after allegations emerged of potential conflicts of interest between his private business interests and his ministerial responsibilities.^[6] The allegations included that he had failed to properly disclose a personal investment he had made in Metier Asia and had a potential conflict of interest relating to a car leasing company which provided services to public servants under a scheme administered by his own department. Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett ordered a review of Nalder's private financial interests and, despite the review finding no evidence that Nalder had sought or gained any personal benefit, criticised him for "serious errors of judgement" and demoted him as the Minister for Finance. Nalder accepted his demotion and acknowledged that he had made mistakes which had "created the perception of a potential wrong-doing."^[7]

In September 2016, Nalder resigned from the ministry, stating he no longer supported Colin Barnett as leader of the Liberal Party. He resignation was preceded by that of another minister, Tony Simpson.^[8] Days after his resignation, Nalder announced that he would stand for the Liberal Party leadership if a spill motion was successful. The spill motion was moved at a partyroom meeting by one of his supporters, Murray Cowper, but was defeated 31–15, and Nalder subsequently stated that he had "no further interest in any challenge".^[9]

See also

• Barnett Ministry
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

References