Hon Peter Collier MLC

Minister for Energy; Training and Workforce Development; Indigenous Affairs, Western Australia

Hon Peter Collier was elected to the 37th Parliament for the North Metropolitan Region on February 26, 2005. Following his re-election in September 2008, he was sworn in as Minister for Energy; Training for the new Liberal-National Government on September 23. Peter took on the portfolio of Indigenous Affairs in December 2010.

As Western Australia’s economy continues to grow, one of Peter’s priority areas is to increase the status of training while ensuring the State has a skilled workforce to meet future labour needs. To this end, the training portfolio was broadened to provide a stronger focus on workforce development, which included the creation of a new department dedicated to training and workforce development.

Some significant achievements in this area to date have included the release of Training WA, a blueprint for training delivery over the next decade; Training Together – Working Together, a comprehensive plan for Aboriginal training; and Skilling WA – A workforce development plan for Western Australia, which is a whole-of-Government document that will provide the framework to build, attract and retain a skilled workforce.

From an energy perspective, Peter has worked closely with key Government and industry stakeholders as part of the development of the Strategic Energy Initiative: Energy 2031, providing a long term energy vision for Western Australia.

Considerable work has also been carried out to ensure the State has a reliable and secure energy system, while moving towards delivering a cleaner energy future. This has included implementing recommendations from the Gas Supply and Emergency Management Committee and major developments in the area of renewable energy.

While there are still many challenges ahead in both of these portfolio areas, Peter is also looking forward to his new role as Minister for Indigenous Affairs. In particular, he is committed to boosting training and workforce development opportunities for Aboriginal people, allowing them to benefit from the State’s future economic growth.

Before the 2008 State Election, Peter held the position of shadow minister in a number of portfolios, including Education and Training (April 8, 2006 – September 23, 2008), Heritage; Training and Higher Education; Works and Services (February 4, 2006 – April 8, 2006), Science (September 26, 2005 – February 4, 2006) and Communication; Science (May 22, 2005 – September 26, 2005).

In addition, Peter has served on many State and Federal committees including the National Expert Advisory Committee on School Drug Education, the Western Australian Youth Advisory Committee and the WA Youth Grants Selection Committee.

Before entering Parliament, Peter had an outstanding career in teaching. He was Head of Department (Political and Legal Studies, History) at Scotch College and was also Head of Politics and History at Presbyterian Ladies’ College. He also taught at Lesmurdie Senior High School and John Curtin Senior High School.

Peter has been heavily involved in tennis. He was the professional coach at the Peppermint Grove Tennis Club for 15 years and was the tour coach of Jenny Byrne, Dinky Van Rensburg and Joanne Faull in 1989 and 1990. He was also named WA Tennis Coach of the Year in 1990 by the Tennis Coaches’ Association.