The Honourable
Wilson Tucker
MLC
Tucker's official portrait
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for Mining and Pastoral
Assumed office
22 May 2021
Preceded byJacqui Boydell
Personal details
Born
Wilson Robert Tucker

(1984-09-29) 29 September 1984
Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia[1]
Political partyIndependent (since 2023)[lower-alpha 1]
Other political
affiliations		Daylight Saving (since 2016)[lower-alpha 1]
RelationsBrett Tucker (brother)[3]
Alma materEdith Cowan University (BCompSc)
ProfessionSoftware engineer

Wilson Robert Tucker (born 29 September 1984)[4] is an Australian politician serving in the Western Australian Legislative Council for the Mining and Pastoral region. He was elected at the 2021 Western Australian state election for the Daylight Saving Party, with 98 primary votes, or 0.18% of the vote – believed to be the lowest primary vote for any politician elected to a parliament in Australia.[5]

Biography

Pre-2021 election

Tucker lived in the state's South West region for most of his early life and graduated from Bunbury Catholic College.[3] He worked as an electrician for two years before studying a Bachelor of Computer Science at Edith Cowan University in Perth. He moved to Seattle in 2018 to continue his career.[6]

He co-founded the Daylight Saving Party with his twin brother Brett Tucker in 2016,[3] and was an unsuccessful candidate for the South Metropolitan region in the 2017 state election, winning 0.79% of the vote.

Election and controversy

His 2021 victory has been characterised as "one of the most unlikely victories in Australian political history", especially given the Mining and Pastoral region had one of the highest rates of opposition to daylight saving in previous state referendums on the issue.[1]

Tucker's 0.18% of the primary vote fell far short of the quota requirement; he reached the required quota of 6,603 with preferences from other microparties organised by Glenn Druery.[7] Liberals for Climate, Sustainable Australia, Western Australia Party, Great Australian Party, Health Australia Party, Liberal Democrats and some independents preferenced the Daylight Saving Party second on their group voting tickets.[8] His election, along with those of Sophia Moermond and Brian Walker – two Legalise Cannabis WA candidates in the electoral region of South West and East Metropolitan who respectively achieved 2.21% and 2.63% of the primary vote – attracted criticism of the group ticket voting system.[9][10][11] ABC election analyst Antony Green tweeted "Elected as a Daylight Saving Party MLC from Mining and Pastoral Region, despite polling only 98 votes, and he doesn't actually currently live in the state. You couldn't get a better case of what's wrong with group voting tickets."[11] Tucker argued that his election was won in a system that "was nothing new" and had been used by the incumbent Labor government to their own advantage.[1] He later promised he would vote against daylight saving if he found it was inconsistent with the beliefs of his electorate.[12]

Tucker's election raised further controversy when it was revealed he had been working as a software engineering manager in Seattle, Washington, United States for several years at the time of his election. The only requirements to be elected in the Western Australian Legislative Council are that the candidate is at least 18, an Australian citizen, not subject to legal incapacity, an elector entitled to vote in a district and has lived in Western Australia for at least 1 year.[11] Tucker said he would return to Western Australia to claim the seat.[13][14]

Term

Tucker is a member of the Standing Committee on Public Administration.[4]

Premier Mark McGowan used the election of Tucker as justification for changes to the election system for the Western Australia Legislative Council in 2021. The changes to the system to be implemented by the McGowan government include removing group ticket voting and removing regions from the Legislative Council, with each elector in Western Australia voting for the 37 members of that house.[15]

By August 2022, Tucker had drafted a private member's bill to introduce daylight saving in Western Australia. He wanted to have parliament directly introduce daylight saving rather than hold a referendum on the issue. Four previous referendums have been held in Western Australia, all rejecting the introduction of daylight saving.[16] Premier McGowan said his government would "respect" the result of the four previous referendums. With the government having a majority in both houses of parliament, it is unlikely the bill will be passed.[17][18]

Wilson's Daylight Saving Party did not apply for continuing registration and was deregistered by the Western Australian Electoral Commission in February 2023.[19] Wilson continued his term as an independent.[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Daylight Saving Party was deregistered in February 2023, but the party remains active. Tucker sits as an independent in parliament.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mitsopoulos, Nadia (6 April 2021). "Democracy in action": meet new Daylight Saving MP Wilson Tucker, elected from just 98 primary votes (radio). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 Pollock, Austin (24 February 2023). "One Nation and most other parties in Western Australia lose registration". 6 News Australia. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "South West candidate to push for daylight savings". Bunbury Mail. Australian Community Media. 16 February 2017. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Hon. Wilson Robert Tucker MLC". Parliament of Western Australia.
  5. ↑ Ramsey, Michael (30 April 2021). "Regions targeted in WA electoral reform". Seven News. Seven West Media. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  6. ↑ Tucker, Wilson (2 June 2021). "Inaugural Speech" (PDF). Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Mining and Pastoral Region Results". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2021. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Gubana, Benjamin; Hamlyn, Charlotte (1 April 2021). "Legalise Cannabis and Daylight Saving parties elected to WA's Upper House on fraction of primary vote". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Kruijff, Peter de (1 April 2021). "Cannabis and sunshine as minor parties win WA election lottery". WAtoday. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Wahlquist, Calla (7 April 2021). "WA candidate elected to parliament with less than 100 votes prompts calls for electoral reform". Guardian Australia. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 Perpitch, Nicolas; Al Jrood, Tabarak (2 April 2021). "New WA daylight saving MP Wilson Tucker reveals he is living in the US". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Elton, Charlotte (14 May 2021). De Ceglie, Anthony (ed.). "Daylight Saving Party leader Wilson Tucker will oppose daylight saving if it 'conflicts' with his electorate". The West Australian. Seven West Media. p. 11. ISSN 0312-6323. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Spagnolo, Joe (3 April 2021). "'Daylight savings' MP to fly home, sit in WA Parliament". The West Australian. Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Bartlett, Liam (6 April 2021). "Daylight Savings MP to leave 'high-paying' US job to sit in WA parliament (radio). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  15. ↑ Shine, Rhiannon; Kagi, Jacob (15 September 2021). "Mark McGowan announces sweeping changes to WA's electoral system, abolishing regions". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  16. ↑ Spagnolo, Joe (23 August 2022). "WA's daylight saving debate to be reignited when MP Wilson Tucker's new Bill hits Parliament". The West Australian. Seven West Media. pp. 4–5. ISSN 0312-6323. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  17. ↑ Chounding, Andrew; Mitsopoulos, Nadia; da Silva, Ivo (24 August 2022). "Daylight saving push in WA likely dead on arrival as government, opposition dismiss private member's bill". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  18. ↑ Rintoul, Caitlyn (23 August 2022). "WA daylight saving: Mark McGowan rejects calls for referendum on issue". PerthNow. Seven West Media. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  19. ↑ Kennedy, Robert (20 February 2023). "Letter & Notice - Daylight Saving Party" (PDF). Western Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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