Pamela Anne Beggs (née Austin; born 23 May 1947) is an Australian former politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1983 to 1993, representing the seat of Whitford. Beggs was born in

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and raised in country Western Australia, attending primary school in

Greenbushes Greenbushes is a timber and mining town located in the South West region of Western Australia. The 2021 population was 365. History Greenbushes was founded as a mining town in 1888 following a surveyor's discovery of tin in 1886. Greenbushes w ...

and Bridgetown High School and St Joseph's College, Bunbury. After leaving school, she served in the

Women's Royal Australian Air Force The Women's Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) was formed in 1950, after the success of women serving in the Air Forces had been demonstrated by the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF). The first recruits began training on 30 January 19 ...

for a period, and subsequently worked as a dietician and as a laboratory assistant. After her marriage in 1972, she and her husband operated a

roadhouse Roadhouse may refer to: Premises * Roadhouse (premises), a mixed-use premise to service passing travellers * Receiving house or roadhouse, a theatre for touring theatre companies * A truck stop in rural Australia Arts and entertainment Film * '' ...

near

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

for a period, later moving to the northern suburbs of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Beggs joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

in 1977, and at the 1983 state election was preselected for the seat of Whitford.Pamela Anne Beggs
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 8 May 2016. She won the contest with 57.7 percent of the vote, as Labor (led by Brian Burke) won in a landslide. Following the 1986 election, where she increased her majority, Beggs was appointed to the Burke ministry as Minister for Tourism and Minister for Racing and Gaming. She and

Kay Hallahan Elsie Kay Hallahan (born 4 November 1941) is a former deputy leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party. As a member of the Labor Party, she also served as a minister in the Burke, Dowding and Lawrence ministries ...

became the first women to serve as ministers in a Labor government. When Burke retired in 1988, Beggs retained her portfolios in the new ministry led by

Peter Dowding Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990 due to a leadership spill. He was a member o ...

, and was additionally made Minister for Housing. In a reshuffle in February 1989, she was kept on as Minister for Housing and also made Minister for Planning, but lost her other portfolios. When

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. To date she is the only female p ...

became premier in February 1990, Beggs was made

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

in the Lawrence ministry, and also regained two of her previous titles (becoming Minister for Tourism and Minister for Racing and Gaming for a second time). However, at the 1993 state election, she was defeated in Whitford by the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate, Rob Johnson, bringing her career in politics to an end. The Lawrence government was also defeated.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beggs, Pam 1947 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from New South Wales Royal Australian Air Force personnel Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly