Michael William Sutherland (born 23 October 1954) is an Australian politician who was the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

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 in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legislat ...

. He was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

from September 2008 to March 2017, representing the electorate of

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

. Before state politics, Sutherland was a City of Perth Councillor from 1995 to 2009 and served as deputy mayor for five years. Sutherland retired from the City of Perth Council in early 2009. Between 1982 and 1987 Sutherland served as a Johannesburg city councillor.

Early life

Sutherland was born to William and Alice Sutherland in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sutherland's parents met whilst his father was serving as a Warrant Officer in the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

in Egypt during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His father was of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

ancestry, whilst his mother belonged to the

Lebanese Christian Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. Biblical Scriptures purport that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, whom they affiliated to the ancient patriarchate of Antioch. The spread of Christianity in Lebanon was ...

community. His mother later married William and migrated to South Africa. Sutherland describes his upbringing as cosmopolitan. His mother spoke French, Arabic, English and some Italian and Greek, and he grew in a city of diverse nationalities, religions and backgrounds. After matriculating from The Hill High School where he was head boy, Sutherland undertook national service in the South African army, and then proceeded to complete a Bachelor of Arts at the

Witwatersrand University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, where he majored in history and international relations. He commenced teaching in 1977 for a period of five years. Whilst teaching, he studied as an external student at the University of South Africa, graduating with a teacher's diploma and law degree. He was admitted as a solicitor and notary public in South Africa in 1983.

Entry into politics and public service

From the early 1970s, Sutherland was active in the United Party, the then main parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party. In 1982 he was elected to the

Johannesburg City Council Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

as a member of the

Progressive Federal Party The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) ( af, Progressiewe Federale Party) was a South African political party formed in 1977 through merger of the Progressive and Reform parties, eventually changing its name to the Progressive Federal Party. For it ...

, which by then had become the main parliamentary opposition party. The Johannesburg City Council was a large metropolitan council with 47 councillors and 600,000 residents. He migrated to Australia in 1987.

Career in Australia

Sutherland arrived in Sydney in 1987. He soon qualified as an Australian lawyer through the University of Sydney. He then moved to Perth in 1988 where he practised law until 2008 when he was elected as the Member for Mount Lawley, the position he held until 2017. On his resignation from City of Perth Council in 2009, he was made a freeman of the City of Perth, an honour awarded to council members who have served at least three consecutive elections, who have made an outstanding contribution to the community and who have consistently displayed commendable conduct.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Michael 1954 births Perth City Councillors Australian people of Lebanese descent Australian people of Scottish descent Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly South African emigrants to Australia South African people of British descent South African people of Lebanese descent South African people of Scottish descent Speakers of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Progressive Federal Party politicians United Party (South Africa) politicians University of South Africa alumni University of Sydney alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians People from Johannesburg Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Deputy mayors of places in Australia