Eric Stephen Ripper (born 13 September 1951) is a retired Australian politician. From 2008 to 2012 he was

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

and leader of the Labor Party in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper later attended

Churchlands Senior High School Churchlands Senior High School is an independent public secondary school located in Churchlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately northwest from the Perth central business district. It is the largest school in Western Au ...

and the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education. Before entering politics, Ripper had a career as a teacher.

Career

Ripper entered the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative A ...

in 1988, after winning a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

in the

Electoral district of Ascot Ascot was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1968 to 1989. The district was based in the eastern suburbs of Perth. First contested at the 1968 state election, its first member ...

. That seat was abolished for the general election held a year later, and he followed most of his constituents into the recreated seat of

Belmont Belmont may refer to: People * Belmont (surname) Places * Belmont Abbey (disambiguation) * Belmont Historic District (disambiguation) * Belmont Hotel (disambiguation) * Belmont Park (disambiguation) * Belmont Plantation (disambiguation) * Belmon ...

. He served as Minister for Community Services and Minister for Disability Services in the Lawrence Ministry (1991–1993). Labor was defeated in the 1993 election, and Ripper served as an opposition frontbencher for eight years. By 1997, he had become Deputy Leader of the state Labor Party, and hence Deputy Leader of the Opposition, under

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...

. Labor regained government in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, and Ripper was named

Deputy Premier of Western Australia The deputy premier of Western Australia is a role in the Government of Western Australia assigned to a responsible Minister in the Australian state of Western Australia. It has second ranking behind the premier of Western Australia in Cabinet, ...

. At various times during Gallop's tenure, he served as Treasurer, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Energy and Minister Assisting the Minister for Public Sector Management in the Gallop government. When Gallop announced his retirement from politics in 2006 whilst off-duty as Premier, Ripper briefly served as acting premier until Gallop's official resignation as Premier when

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

was elected as state Labor leader and premier. Under Carpenter, Ripper served as Deputy Premier and Treasurer. Ripper succeeded Carpenter as WA leader of the ALP on 23 September 2008. In January 2011, Labor MP

Ben Wyatt Benjamin Wyatt or Ben Wyatt may refer to: * Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852), English architect * Ben Wyatt (footballer), English footballer * Ben Wyatt (politician), Australian politician * Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation), fictional charact ...

intended to challenge Ripper for the Labor leadership, but withdrew after finding minority support amongst caucus. On 17 January 2012, Ripper announced that he would stand down as Opposition Leader at a caucus meeting on 23 January, and retire from parliament at the 2013 state election.

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

, who had been managing opposition business in the House, was elected unopposed as his successor. Ripper thus became only the fourth WA Labor leader not to take the party into an election. Ripper retired at the 2013 state election and his seat was won by Glenys Godfrey of the Liberal Party, the former Mayor of Belmont.

Personal life

Ripper lives in Rivervale and has two sons. His ex-brother-in-law is

Bob Pearce Robert John Pearce (born 24 February 1946) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1977 until 1993 representing the seats of Gosnells and Armadale. Biography Pearce was born ...

MP (1977-1993). His partner is former Education Minister

Ljiljanna Ravlich Ljiljanna Maria Ravlich (born Ljiljana Ravlić on 9 January 1958 in Split, Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Western Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1997 to 2015. She was the ...

References

External links

Australian Labor Party: Western Australia branch website

WA Parliament biography
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripper, Eric 1951 births Australian schoolteachers Living people Deputy Premiers of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Churchlands Senior High School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia Treasurers of Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Energy Ministers of Western Australia