Fran Logan

The Honourable Fran Logan
Fran Logan in 2011
Member of Parliament for Cockburn (Legislative Assembly)
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 February 2001
Preceded by	Bill Thomas,
Personal details
Born	Francis Michael Logan 23 March 1956 Whyteleafe, Surrey, England
Citizenship	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Vivienne Thomas
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Mechanic, union official

Francis Michael "Fran" Logan (born 25 February 1956) is an Australian politician who is a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Cockburn in the southern suburbs of Perth for the Australian Labor Party.

Biography

Logan emigrated to Western Australia in 1980 after travelling around Asia, leaving the UK after the Thatcher government was elected. Having trained as a mechanic, he worked in the aircraft and mining industries and later completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at Sydney University.^[1]

Logan was employed as a trade union official with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union from 1986 until entering Parliament in 2001.^[2]

Political career

He won preselection for the seat of Cockburn on the retirement of Bill Thomas. Logan won the seat at the 2001 election, subsequently retaining it at both the 2005 and 2008 elections.^[3]

Early in his time in office, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment. Following the 2005 election, he was promoted to the Ministry on 10 March 2005, becoming the Minister of Housing and Works and Minister for Heritage, as well as the Minister assisting the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure (Alannah MacTiernan).

On 3 February 2006, Logan was appointed Minister for Energy, Science and Innovation in the Carpenter Ministry. Following a reshuffle of the Ministry on 13 December 2006, he gained the Resources portfolio as well as Industry and Enterprise, whilst losing Science and Innovation to Alan Carpenter. Logan served in the Carpenter Ministry as Minister for Energy until the Labor government's defeat at the 2008 election.^[4]

In May 2008, Logan caused a political storm when he admitted that he was accused of asking a female ministerial staffer to have sex with him and another employee of the government. The woman involved had stated that Logan had propositioned her to take part in a threesome on more than one occasion.^[5][6] Carpenter refused to sack Logan over the scandal, after Logan claimed it was a joke.^[7]

Following Labor's loss at the 2008 state election, he formally ceased his duties as a Minister on 23 September 2008, and became the Shadow Minister for Water, Consumer Protection and Industrial Relations.

References

1. "The Science Show - Science and Innovation in Western Australia". 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
2. "Crikey.com - Tracking the Unionists in Parliament". 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
3. "ABC News Online - Western Australian Election 2008". 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
4. "Extract from the Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook". 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
5. Gosch, Elizabeth (27 May 2008). "The Australian - Fran Logan escapes from sex scandal". The Australian. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
6. Strutt, Jessica; Adshead, Gary (24 May 2008). "The Age - MP accused over 'threesome'". Melbourne. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
7. O'Brien, Amanda (28 May 2008). "The Australian - Premier stands by 'sex joke' minister Fran Logan". The Australian. Retrieved 2008-06-11.