Roger Cook (politician)

Roger Hugh Cook (born 20 August 1965) is an Australian politician who is the current premier of Western Australia, in office since June 2023 as leader of WA Labor. He was previously deputy premier of Western Australia from 2017 to 2023.

Cook was born in Perth and holds degrees from Murdoch University and Curtin University. Prior to being elected to parliament he was involved in student politics, serving as the first president of the National Union of Students, and worked as a public relations consultant and in management roles with Aboriginal corporations. Cook was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly at the 2008 state election, representing the seat of Kwinana. He was elected deputy leader of the Labor Party ten days after first being elected to parliament, and held this position until his appointment as leader of the party in 2023. He held senior ministerial office under Mark McGowan from 2017 to 2023, before being elected as McGowan's successor after his mid-term resignation.

Early life
Cook was born on 20 August 1965 in Cottesloe, Western Australia. He is the youngest of seven children born to Hugh David Cook, a child psychiatrist, and Lynette Ada Owen, an early childhood educator. Cook grew up in the suburb of Claremont and was educated at Scotch College. As a teenager he represented Western Australia in rugby union.

Cook graduated from Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Arts in public administration and later completed a graduate diploma in business (public relations) and a Master of Business Administration at Curtin University. Whilst at Murdoch, he became involved in student politics, serving as a student representative on the university's senate. He was also involved in the establishment of the National Union of Students in mid-1986, becoming its first national president as a representative of the National Organisation of Labor Students.

Career
After graduating, Cook worked in the offices of a number of Labor MPs, including Stephen Smith, Jim McGinty, and Chris Evans. He served as state president of the Labor Party from 1999 to 2000. Cook later became involved with Aboriginal advocacy groups, serving at various times as a policy coordinator for the Western Australian Aboriginal Native Title Working Group, as CEO of the Yamatji Marlpa Barna Baba Maaja Aboriginal Corporation, and as government relations manager for the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. From 2004 to 2008, he was state manager of CPR, a public relations firm which is closely associated with the Labor Party.

Politics

At the 2008 state election, Cook won the seat of Kwinana in a tightly fought contest, winning by 300 votes from independent candidate Carol Adams, the mayor of the City of Kwinana. Adams had unsuccessfully attempted to gain Labor pre-selection, and later accused Alan Carpenter of "parachuting" Cook into the seat. On 16 September, ten days after the election, Cook was elected to the position of deputy leader of the Labor Party under Eric Ripper. He is a member of the Labor Left faction, backed by the United Voice trade union (previously known as the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union). After Ripper was replaced by Mark McGowan as leader of the opposition in January 2012, Cook maintained his position as deputy leader. He was re-elected at the 2013 state election in a rematch with Adams, winning an increased majority.

However, Kwinana was a very safe Labor seat in a "traditional" two-party matchup with the Liberals; Cook would have won it in both 2008 and 2013 with majorities of well over 10 percent in a traditional contest with a Liberal candidate. Proving this, Cook was easily reelected in 2017 amid the massive Labor wave that swept through Perth, taking over 68 percent of the two-party vote, a "traditional" two-party swing of seven percent.

Cook was responsible for a high-profile portfolio as minister for health from 2017 to 2021, particularly following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia in early 2020. He also played a key role in the passage of voluntary assisted dying legislation in 2019.

After a ministerial reshuffle in December 2021, Cook was removed from the Health Ministry in favour of Amber-Jade Sanderson. He assumed the portfolio of Tourism, while retaining his status as Deputy Premier, and the ministries of State Development, Jobs and Trade, and Commerce and Science. After another reshuffle in December 2022, Cook became the minister for hydrogen industry, taking over from the retiring Alannah MacTiernan, and was succeeded as the minister for commerce by Sue Ellery.

Premier
Following the resignation of McGowan as premier in May 2023, Cook was the first minister to announce his intention to stand in the ensuing leadership ballot. 26 Labor MPs affiliated with the United Workers Union held a meeting on 30 May, choosing to support Sanderson over Cook, 17 votes to 11. The 17 Australian Manufacturing Workers Union MPs held a meeting on the afternoon of 30 May, unanimously choosing to back Cook to be leader and Saffioti to be deputy leader and treasurer. Saffioti and Sanderson both pulled out of the contest after that, leaving Cook as the sole candidate to be premier.

During his Premiership On 8 August 2023, the Cook Government of Western Australia announced the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2021 would be repealed and the 1972 act reinstated.

Portfolios

Cook has held the following portfolios since his election in 2008:
 26 September 2008 – 27 January 2012: Deputy Leader of the Opposition; Shadow Minister for Health; Shadow Minister for Mental Health; Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs
 27 January 2012 – 9 April 2013: Deputy Leader of the Opposition; Shadow Minister for Health
 9 April 2013 – 26 June 2015: Deputy Leader of the Opposition; Shadow Minister for Health; Shadow Minister for Science
 26 June 2015 – 17 March 2017: Deputy Leader of the Opposition; Shadow Minister for Health
 17 March 2017 – 21 December 2021: Minister for Health and Minister for Mental Health
 21 December 2021 – 14 December 2022: Deputy Premier; Minister for Tourism; State Development, Jobs and Trade; Commerce and Science
 14 December 2022 – 8 June 2023: Deputy Premier; Minister for State Development, Jobs and Trade; Hydrogen Industry; Tourism; Science
 8 June 2023 – present: Premier; Minister for State and Industry Development, Jobs and Trade; Public Sector Management; Federal-State Relations

Personal life
Cook married his wife Carly Lane in 2010 and has two children from a previous marriage. Lane is a curator of Indigenous Australian art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Cook is a supporter of the Fremantle Football Club.

References

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1965 births
Living people
Labor Left politicians
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia
Australian republicans
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Murdoch University alumni
Politicians from Perth, Western Australia
21st-century Australian politicians
People educated at Scotch College, Perth
Curtin University alumni
Premiers of Western Australia