Kenneth Dunstan Elder Travers (born 1 February 1961) is a former Australian politician who was 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 1997 to 2016, representing North Metropolitan Region.

Early life

Travers was born in

Bramber Bramber is a former Manorialism, manor, village and civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It has a ruined mediaeval castle which was the ''caput'' of a large English feudal barony, feudal barony. B ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, England, to Ailsa (née Elder) and Laurence John Travers.Kenneth (Ken) Dunstan Elder Travers
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 19 July 2016. He is a descendant of Edward Ogilvie, a 19th-century member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

. Travers' parents moved 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 ...

when he was an infant, and he attended

Mount Lawley Senior High School Mount Lawley Senior High School is a public co-educational high day school in the City of Stirling, located in Mount Lawley, a northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The school consists of three separate sub-schools: Middle School for Yea ...

. After leaving school, he was employed as a customs officer for several years, and later also as a bus driver. From 1989, he worked as a political adviser and electorate officer, including in the office of Senator Chris Evans.

Politics

Travers was elected to parliament at the 1996 state election, to a term commencing in May 1997. He was immediately included in the shadow ministry of

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 ...

. However, when Labor was elected to government at the 2001 election, Travers was not made a minister, but instead only a parliamentary secretary. After the

2005 election The following elections occurred in the year 2005. * 2005 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2005 Burkinabé presidential election * 2005 Burundian Senate election * 2005 Burundian communal elections * 2005 Burundian constitutio ...

, he was made deputy chairman of committees in the Legislative Council, a position which he held until 2013. The Labor government was defeated at the 2008 election, and Travers was included in the shadow ministry formed by the new leader,

Eric Ripper Eric Stephen Ripper (born 13 September 1951) is an Australian former politician. From 2008 to 2012 he was Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia. He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper late ...

.Hon. Kenneth (Ken) Dunstan Elder Travers MLC
Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 19 July 2016. He retained his place when

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian former politician and naval officer who served as the 30th premier of Western Australia from 2017 until his retirement in 2023. He was the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Austr ...

replaced Ripper as leader in 2012, but resigned from the shadow ministry in June 2015 for personal reasons. Travers retired from parliament in August 2016, and was replaced by Laine McDonald."Alannah MacTiernan: Labor leader backs return after Ken Travers bows out"
ABC News, 19 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Ken 1961 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia English emigrants to Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Mount Lawley Senior High School People from Bramber 21st-century Australian politicians

Early life

Politics

See also

References