page_title: Hal Colebatch
section_title: In Western Australian politics
hierarchical_section_title: Hal Colebatch / In Western Australian politics
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG, 12th Premier of Western Australia.
context_page_description: Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Australia for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a federal senator for four years.
context_section_description: In 1910, Colebatch unsuccessfully contested a by-election for the then upper-house rural seat of East Province. The following year, he contested the Legislative Assembly seat of Avon but was again unsuccessful.  On 14 May 1912, he was elected to the Legislative Council seat of East Province in a by-election.  There, he played a key role in the Legislative Council's persistent opposition to much of the more radical legislation put forward by John Scaddan's Labor government.  When Scaddan's government fell in 1916, Colebatch was appointed Colonial Secretary and minister for education in Frank Wilson's government.  The following year, he became deputy premier under Henry Lefroy.  That year also, he oversaw the establishment of the first high schools in regional Western Australia.
caption: Colebatch c. 1921-1923
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