William Ralph Boucher Hassell, best known as Bill Hassell, (born 6 June 1943) is an Australian former

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician who was

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

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 ...

during the mid-1980s. He was a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

seat of Cottesloe between 1977 and 1990.

Early life

After attending Hale School, Hassell attended the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

(UWA), graduating in 1965 with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. He entered legal practice in 1966.

Political career

In 1977 Hassell was elected to the

seat of Cottesloe, representing the

. He was

between 1984 and 1986 before being replaced by Barry MacKinnon. Hassell's subsequent political career saw him serve as deputy mayor on Nedlands Council and in this capacity in November 2019, he stated that “Although I loathe and detest welcomes to the country, I sit through them patiently when we have these ceremonies.” Seven months later in June 2020, Hassell tendered his resignation as deputy mayor, and from the council.

Political views

Hassell is a monarchist and was a convenor for the

Australians for Constitutional Monarchy Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) is a group that aims to preserve Australia's constitutional monarchy, with Charles III as King of Australia. The group states that it is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation whose role is "To ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassell, Bill 1943 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Leaders of the opposition in Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni 20th-century Australian lawyers People educated at Hale School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Australian monarchists Deputy mayors of places in Australia Western Australian local councillors