Garry Kenneth Kelly (26 May 1948 – 11 July 2002) was an Australian politician who served as a Labor Party member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

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 1982 to 1993. He stood for parliament eight times in total, winning four elections. Kelly was born in

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 ...

to Rita Phyllis (née Limmer) and Kenneth John Kelly. He attended

Manjimup Senior High School Manjimup Senior High School is a comprehensive independent public co-educational high day school, located in Manjimup, a regional centre in the South West region of Western Australia, south of Perth. The school was established in 1957 and ...

, Northam Senior High School, and Melville Senior High School before going on to the Western Australian Institute of Technology (graduating with a physics degree) and 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 ...

(graduating with a teaching certificate). Before entering parliament, he worked as a schoolteacher, teaching at Armadale Senior High School and Applecross Senior High School. Kelly first ran for parliament at the age of 22, contesting the Legislative Council's

Metropolitan Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, jurisdiction in Christianity, Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical struc ...

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 ...

safe seat) at the 1971 state election.Garry Kenneth Kelly
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 September 2016. At the next three state elections, he ran for the Legislative Assembly, contesting South Perth at the 1974 election and

Murdoch Murdoch ( , ) Is a Scottish and Irish surname and given name. An Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal names ''Muireadhach'' ‘mariner’, ''Murchadh'' ‘sea-warrior’, and ''Muirchertach, Muircheartach'' ‘sea-ruler’, the first element i ...

at the

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

and 1980 elections. In 1980, Kelly collapsed at work and fractured his skull. His injury left him in a coma for several weeks and required brain surgery followed by a lengthy period of recovery.Michael Southwell, "Lessons in stalwart service", ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', 27 September 2002. In 1982, Kelly won a Legislative Council by-election for South Metropolitan Province, occasioned by the resignation of Howard Olney. He was re-elected at the 1986 state election, and was subsequently appointed deputy chairman of committees. At the 1989 election, Kelly's old seat was abolished and he was elected to the new five-member South Metropolitan Region. He was elected chairman of committees in March 1992, replacing

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

. However, prior to the 1993 election, " factional manoeuvres" relegated Kelly to the unwinnable third position on the Labor ticket, and he lost his seat. Kelly killed himself in July 2002, aged 54, after a period of depression. He had married twice, having three children by his first wife (who died of breast cancer in 1998) and two step-children from his second marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Garry 1948 births 2002 deaths 2002 suicides Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian politicians who died by suicide Australian schoolteachers Chairpersons of Committees of the Western Australian Legislative Council Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Melville Senior High School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Suicides in Western Australia Curtin University alumni University of Western Australia alumni