June van de Klashorst

June van de Klashorst
Member of the Western Australian Parliament for Swan Hills
In office 6 February 1993 – 10 February 2001
Preceded by	Gavan Troy
Succeeded by	Jaye Radisich
Personal details
Born	June Dorothy Wellstead 1 June 1938 Teddington, England
Citizenship	Australian
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Franciscus van de Klashorst[1]
Profession	Teacher

June Dorothy van de Klashorst (née Wellstead) (born 1 June 1938) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 2001, representing the electorate of Swan Hills. She was Minister for Family and Children's Services, Minister for Seniors and Minister for Women's Interests in the Court government from December 1999 to February 2001.

Van de Klashorst was born in England, and arrived in Australia with her family in June 1951. She attended Princess May High School and Fremantle Technical School, and worked in secretarial and management roles before becoming a teacher. She joined the Liberal Party in 1985, and was a founding member of the Gidgegannup branch.^[2][3]

She was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1993 state election, winning the Swan Hills electorate from Labor after the retirement of Gavan Troy. She served on the House Committee (1993–1994), Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation (1994–1996) and Library Committee (1997–1998). She also served on the Select Committee on Intervention in Childbirth (1994–1995), Select Committee on Heavy Transport (1994–1996) and the Select Committee on Crime Prevention (1997–1999).^[2]

The pro-choice van de Klashorst played a significant role in the push to reform Western Australia's abortion laws in 1998 after two doctors were charged with criminal offences. She initially came out in support of Labor MLC Cheryl Davenport's bill to repeal the section of the Criminal Code that made abortion illegal, and planned to introduce the Davenport bill in the Legislative Assembly as a bipartisan effort. The Liberal-National coalition rejected van de Klashorst's position, instead deciding to move its own rival reform bill, to which van de Klashorst was reported to be "close to tears". In the subsequent debate, van de Klashorst successfully advocated an additional requirement that women be offered counselling when seeking an abortion. The reform push was ultimately successful, with a compromise passing both houses after the Legislative Council initially backed the Davenport bill and the Legislative Assembly the government bill. ^[4][5][6]

Van de Klashorst was Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister for Justice from January 1997 to December 1999, when she was promoted into the ministry after the resignation of Rhonda Parker. She served as Minister for Family and Children's Services, Minister for Seniors and Minister for Women's Interests from 1999 until the 2001 state election, when she was unexpectedly defeated by 24-year-old Labor candidate Jaye Radisich.^[7][2][3][8]

References

1. "WELLSTEAD, June Dorothy". Welcome Walls. Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
2. "van de Klashorst, June Dorothy MLA". Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
3. "van de Klashorst, June Dorothy (1938–)". Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
4. Martin, Roger (6 March 1998), Abortion law: MPs get five options, The West Australian
5. Price, Matt (9 March 1998), Test of conscience, The Australian
6. Burns, Anne (3 April 1998), Pro-lifers lost way across middle ground, The West Australian
7. Price, Matt (23 December 1999), Reluctant Court tries a soft shuffle, The Australian
8. Pryer, Wendy (12 February 2001), Student takes the junior title, The West Australian