Paul Papalia CSC (born 12 July 1962) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party 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 ...

since February 2007. He is the current member for Secret Harbour. Papalia has previously been the member for

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

and Warnbro before their abolition as electorates. A decorated former navy diver who served two tours in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, Papalia entered parliament after winning a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

sparked by the resignation of scandal-tarred former minister Norm Marlborough.

Early life and naval career

Papalia was born in Bunbury, Western Australia and grew up in the nearby small town of Burekup. He served in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

for 26 years before entering politics, working as a navy diver and rising to the rank of lieutenant commander. He specialised in explosives retrieval and escape and rescue. Papalia completed Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) selection and reinforcement training in 1988. He then served in 3 SASR Squadron in 1989 and 1 SASR Squadron in 1990 before returning to the Navy in 1991. In 1992 he served with the

United Nations Special Commission on Iraq United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 19 ...

to work as explosives disposal specialist, and was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in 1994 for his work there. Papalia later returned to

during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, serving as executive officer in an Australian mine-clearing team. He left the navy in 2004, and operated a small business renovating houses up until the time of his election to parliament.

Political career

In November 2006, state Minister for Small Business Norm Marlborough resigned from parliament after it was revealed that he had lied to the

Corruption and Crime Commission The Corruption and Crime Commission is an independent anti-corruption integrity agency established on 1 January 2004 to improve the integrity of the Western Australian public sector and investigate allegations of misconduct against public off ...

about his dealings with disgraced former

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

Brian Burke, thus triggering a

in his electorate of

. Peel had been held by the Labor Party since the seat's inception and was generally considered a safe Labor seat, but concerns about an electoral backlash over Marlborough's conduct led the party to look for a candidate without a political background. Papalia thus nominated for Labor preselection in the by-election, and was easily successful – despite having only joined the party weeks before – after receiving strong support from Premier

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

. He went on to easily win the by-election, receiving a small swing in his favour in a seat that the government had feared they might lose. The district of Peel was abolished with effect at the 2008 state election. Papalia instead successfully contested the new seat of Warnbro, which covers much the same area. In March 2017, Paul was appointed as a Minister in the new McGowan Government, with the portfolios for Tourism, Racing and Gaming, Small Business, Defence Issues, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Following the March 2021 election, he was appointed as Minister for Police, Road Safety, Defence Industry and Veterans Issues. After the resignation of Mark McGowan, new Premier announced on the 7th of June Papalia would gain the portfolio of Corrective Services and lose Road Safety. After the resignation of Bill Johnston from the Cabinet, Papalia gained Racing and Gaming on the 7th of December. This continues the 4 years Papalia had the portfolio between 2017-2021. Papalia was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy on the 2nd of December 2021. 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 ...

, he was elected in the new seat of Secret Harbour. Papalia is one of four Labor MPs in state parliament that is not factionally aligned as of 2025.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Papalia, Paul 1962 births Living people Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Royal Australian Navy officers People from Bunbury, Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Australian politicians of Italian descent Australian people of Calabrian descent