Wally Koepke

The Honourable 	The Honourable
Wally Koepke 	Wally Koepke
Koepke in 1999 	Koepke in 1999
35th Prime Minister of EnderronElections: 2002, 2006	35th Prime Minister of EnderronElections: 2002, 2006
In office 	In office
30 October 2002 – 17 February 2008 	30 October 2002 – 17 February 2008
President 	Thomas MathersonMargaret HuHelen Vandenberg
Deputy 	Jack WhithamMartin BrooksDon Dansby
Preceded by 	Rick Clarkson
Succeeded by 	Adrian Coghlan
1st Leader of the Liberal Party 	1st Leader of the Liberal Party
In office 	In office
19 February 2000 – 17 February 2008 	19 February 2000 – 17 February 2008
Deputy 	Phoebe KnowlesMax LehmanGeorgia HickersonDon Dansby
Preceded by 	Party founded
Succeeded by 	Adrian Coghlan
7th Leader of the Conservative Party 	7th Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 	In office
25 November 1993 – 19 February 2000 	25 November 1993 – 19 February 2000
Deputy 	Ray CaldwellJoe Haberfield
Preceded by 	Ed Tannen
Succeeded by 	Party dissolved
44th Leader of the OppositionElections: 1994, 1998 	44th Leader of the OppositionElections: 1994, 1998
In office 	In office
25 November 1993 – 30 October 2002 	25 November 1993 – 30 October 2002
Prime Minister 	Helen VandenbergRick Clarkson
Deputy 	Ray CaldwellJoe HaberfieldPhoebe KnowlesMax Lehman
Preceded by 	Ed Tannen
Succeeded by 	Jason Huynh
Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Marshall Bay	Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Marshall Bay
In office 	In office
17 October 1998 – 16 October 2010 	17 October 1998 – 16 October 2010
Preceded by 	Trent Anderson
Succeeded by 	Dora Jiang
Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Oxley 	Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Oxley
In office 	In office
16 October 1982 – 17 October 1998 	16 October 1982 – 17 October 1998
Preceded by 	Peter Washington
Succeeded by 	Terry Schachter
Personal details 	Personal details
Born 	Wouter Koepke10 September 1951 (age )Reedijk, Enderron
Political party 	Liberal (since 2000)Conservative (1986–2000)United (before 1986)
Spouse(s) 	Jennifer Dijkstral (m. 1972, div. 1984)Silvia Hawkins (m. 1987)
Children 	2
Education 	Kingsdown High School
Alma mater 	University of Technology Janszoon
Religion 	Roman Catholic
Wouter "Wally" Koepke (/ˈkɛpkə/ kep-kuh; born 10 September 1951) is a former Enderronian politician who served as the 35th Prime Minister of Enderron from 2002 to 2008, having previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 1993 to 2002. His combined 14-year long tenure as leader of the Liberal Party of Enderron (2000–2008) and its predecessor, the Conservative Party (1993–2000), makes him the second-longest serving major party leader in post-independence history and the second major party leader to contest four consecutive elections, both after William Oxley. He remains the longest-serving Leader of the Opposition in Enderronian history, continuously holding the position for almost nine years. 
Koepke was born in Reedijk, Cooksland to newly-arrived Dutch migrants. He was raised speaking Dutch and only learned English after starting school, making him the the first Prime Minister to speak English as a second language. After graduating from the University of Technology Janszoon, Koepke worked as a consultant until entering politics in the early 1980s. He moved back to Reedijk and was elected to the safe seat of Oxley in the 1982 federal election as a member of the centre-right United Party.
In June 1986, he resigned from the United Party after coming into conflict with the party leadership on a number of occasions, and defected to the Conservative Party, becoming its sole representative in parliament. At the 1986 election, Koepke was re-elected with a significantly reduced margin, but his presence in the campaign was credited with helping the party win five seats. He became the party whip and spokesperson for increasingly important portfolios, eventually rising to succeed Ed Tannen as party leader in 1993, thereby becoming the Leader of the Opposition. Koepke led the Conservatives to the 1994 and 1998 elections, both times falling well short of a majority but picking up a substantial swing and cementing the party's status as the main centre-right opponent to the Social Democrats.
Koepke negotiated the merger of the Conservatives with Liberal Democrats to form the Liberal Party, and was elected as the party's first leader in February 2000. Following the deadlocked 2002 election in which the Liberals won a plurality of seats, Koepke became Prime Minister after forming a coalition government with the Enderron National Party. His premiership was marked by a shift in foreign policy towards a more Western-oriented position and an increase in military interventionism. He supported United States-led efforts in the War in Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq, both of which were criticised by opponents and have become increasingly controversial. On the domestic front, Koepke promoted an approach of cultural cohesion and integration over what he called "unrestrained multiculturalism", and reformed the visa and citizenship systems to limit mass immigration. He championed economically liberal policies, implementing significant spending cuts to completely eliminate government debt, introducing a goods and services tax (GST) and privatising Enderron Airways and Enderron Telecom (now called Entel). As part of the coalition agreement with the Nationals, the Koepke Government also supported enacted policies to encourage regional development and bureaucratic decentralisation, and signed the Kyoto Protocol.
The Liberals won an outright majority in the 2006 election, a feat not seen for a right-of-centre party since 1966. Koepke's signature policy during his second term was the introduction of more stringent gun control legislation in response to increasing gun crime, despite fierce opposition from the National Party and the Liberal Party's own rural constituents. He announced his retirement as Prime Minister in January 2008, and formally resigned on 17 February following the election of his successor as leader of the Liberal Party, Adrian Coghlan. He retired from electoral politics at the 2010 election after serving 28 years in Parliament. Koepke has remained active in the public sphere as a political commentator, while maintaining broad business interests. Since leaving office, his administration has been regarded favourably by the general public, but evaluations by scholars and historians have been more mixed.