Jagadish "Jags" Krishnan (born 23 April 1972) is an Indian-born Australian politician and

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

. He was elected as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Riverton in 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 ...

at the 2021 state election.

Before politics

Krishnan was born on 23 April 1972 to Krishnan Bellie and Sarasu Krishnan. He was born and grew up in

Kotagiri Kotagiri is a hill station and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the India, Indian state, Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiri hills have been the traditional home of the "Kota" tribes. The name 'Kota-giri' itself means 'mountains of the kotas'. ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India, attending Kotagiri Public School, St Antony's Higher Secondary School in Coonoor and Bharathi Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore. He then attended JSS Medical College. He lived in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 2005 to 2006, before moving to

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 ...

, Western Australia. He worked as a

for four years in Byford before starting a company of his own, Perth GP. His company now has over 20 clinics across Perth.

Politics

Krishnan joined the WA Labor Party one year before the 2021 election.

2021 election campaign

Krishnan was the Labor Party's candidate for the

electoral district of Riverton Riverton is a Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly Electoral districts of Western Australia, electorate in the states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. Riverton is named for the southern Perth sub ...

for the

2021 Western Australian state election The 2021 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 13 March to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and all 36 seats in the We ...

. Riverton had been held by

Mike Nahan Michael Dennis Nahan (born 2 July 1950) is an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition from the 2017 state election until his resignation in June 2019. He served as Tre ...

from the Liberal party since 2008, but he retired at the 2021 election. Krishnan's main opponent was Anthony Spagnolo. Krishnan was criticised during the campaign for handing out a pamphlet claiming that he was a local to the electorate of Riverton, despite living in

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

. He promised to move into the electorate if he won the election. On 13 March 2021, Krishnan won the seat of Riverton with a 13.3% swing towards him. In December 2022, he became a parliamentary secretary to

Sue Ellery Suzanne Mary Ellery (born 12 May 1962) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia since 2001, representing South Metropolitan Region. A senior figure in WA Labor, Ellery held ...

, the minister for finance, commerce, and women's interests. Krishnan was re-elected in the

2025 Western Australian state election The 2025 Western Australian state election was held on 8 March 2025 to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and all 37 seats in the Western ...

Personal life

Krishnan is married and has two children. He is a Hindu. He is known by the nickname "Dr Jags" within the local community, and used it on election campaign material. He has interests in cricket and soccer. Krishnan is a member of the Leeming Spartan Cricket Club and also coaches a junior soccer team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnan, Jags Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Australian general practitioners Medical doctors from Tamil Nadu Indian emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 1972 births Australian politicians of Asian descent Australian politicians of Indian descent