Matthew Hughes (born 9 February 1950) is an Australian former politician. He was 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 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 ...

from the 2017 state election, representing Kalamunda, until his retirement at the 2025 state election. Hughes was born in

Audenshaw Audenshaw is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester. Historically part of Lancashire, in 2011 it had a population of 11,419. The name derives from Aldwin, a Saxon personal name, and the Old English suffix ''shagh' ...

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 ...

, and moved to Australia in 1979. He was a teacher and the principal of

John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School (commonly abbreviated as JSRACS or JSR) is an independent Anglican co-educational primary and secondary day school located in Perth, Western Australia. The school is named after the first Surveyor-G ...

, and also served on Swan City Council. He is affiliated with the

United Workers Union The United Workers Union (UWU) is an Australian trade union. Described as the biggest blue-collar union in Australia, the UWU covers more than 150,000 workers within over 45 industries, including warehousing, defence, hospitality, health, disabil ...

, which is aligned with the

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

faction. Hughes announced his retirement as the Member for Kalamunda on 9 February 2024, his 74th birthday.

Controversy and bullying claims

In April 2020, Hughes was called on to resign from the Joint Standing Committee on the Corruption and Crime Commission by Liberal leader

Liza Harvey Liza Mary Harvey (née Browne; born 25 October 1966) is an Australian politician who was the Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2008 to 2021, representing the seat of Scarborough. She was a minister in t ...

and

Nick Goiran Nicolas Pierre Goiran (born 15 October 1977) is an Australian politician who has been a member for the South Metropolitan Region of the Western Australian Legislative Council (MLC), the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, since ...

after posting comments on

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that broke the confidentiality of parliamentary committees. Harvey accused Hughes of breaking the

Chatham House Rule Under the Chatham House Rule, anyone who comes to a meeting is free to use information from the discussion, but is not allowed to reveal who made any particular comment. It is designed to increase openness of discussion. The rule is a system for ...

nature of all parliamentary committees and damaging the integrity of the parliamentary committee process. In March 2021, prior to the 2021 Western Australia state election, Hughes was accused of bullying by three former staff members. Later in March 2021, further claims from these three former staff members were published that detailed Hughes verbally abusing staff, punching objects in the office to startle staff, and the toxic environment. These accusations led to the

Community and Public Sector Union CPSU, the Community and Public Sector Union (more commonly known as the CPSU) is a national trade union in Australia. The union came was established on 1 July 1994 with the amalgamation of the Public Sector, Professional, Scientific, Research, ...

asking the Department of Premier and Cabinet to better educate Members of Parliament on how to treat their staff. The women involved in the complaint said they had been let down by Premier

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 ...

, who defended Hughes by saying he was a decent man. After the election, McGowan promoted Hughes to the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the Corruption and Crime Commission. In late June 2021, complaints about Hughes emerged again, this time from a former student of

about the conduct of Hughes when he was principal there. The former student alleged that she was sexually assaulted as a 13-year-old by a student who was four years older than her, and that as principal of the school, Hughes did nothing to help and that the school took no steps to create a safe environment for her after she reported three incidents, including one on school grounds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Matthew 1950 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Western Australian schoolteachers English emigrants to Australia People from Audenshaw 21st-century Australian politicians Western Australian local councillors