Phillip Pendal - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

His coverage of politics led to Pendal being employed as a press secretary for Sir Charles Court and other ministers in the Court Liberal Government, and from 1971 to 1995 he was an active member of the Liberal Party. In 1980 he was elected to the Legislative Council to represent the South-East metropolitan province, and from 1983 until 1993 he was a shadow minister and opposition spokesman in a number of portfolios, most prominently the Environment portfolio. His performance as shadow environment minister was widely praised and considered by many to be an important factor in the Liberal party’s victory in the 1993 state election, and some analysts believe that his continuation in that portfolio in the Court government might have averted the government’s defeat in the 2001 election.

Although he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the member for South Perth in 1993, he was not appointed to the front bench of the new government, and on 30 March 1995 he resigned from the Liberal Party, continuing his parliamentary career as the Independent member for South Perth until his retirement in 2005.

Pendal was a prominent advocate of pro-life issues during his parliamentary career, most notably in his unofficial leadership of those opposed to the divisive 1998 debate over the decriminalization of abortion. He was also a strong opponent of the death penalty, and his crossing of the floor to support its abolition in 1984 was instrumental to the bill’s passage.