Mal Washer

Dr Mal Washer
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Moore
In office
3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013
Preceded byPaul Filing
Succeeded byIan Goodenough
Personal details
Born (1945-08-12) 12 August 1945 (age 79)
Bunbury, Western Australia
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
OccupationMP, General practitioner

Malcolm James Washer (born 12 August 1945), Australian politician,[1] was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Moore, Western Australia.[2] He was born in Bunbury, Western Australia, and was educated at the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1970 with degrees in medicine and surgery. He was a general practitioner before entering politics.[3]

He is considered a moderate Liberal in a very conservative state and is supportive of socially liberal issues such as same-sex marriage.[4] During 2010 and 2011 he was the contact for the Australian Parliamentary Group on Drug Law Reform (APGDLR), a cross party group of 100 MPs from Australian State and Commonwealth parliaments. The group was set up in 1993 after a meeting in Canberra convened by Michael Moore (ACT Assembly) and Ann Symonds (MLC, NSW).[5]

In August 2011, he announced he would not be contesting the next federal election.[6]

In March 2014, Washer announced his resignation as chair of the Alcohol and Other Drug Council of Australia. He said the reason was the "ill-informed" decision of Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash to cut the organisation's funding without notice, noting that her decision was "a bloody tragedy" which "wasn't subject to any review ... it was dumb advising dumber, and dumb won."[7]

As at January 2018, Washer was chair of ASX-listed AusCann, a medical cannabis company.[8]

  1. ^ "Senators and Members, by Date of Birth". 42nd Parliament. 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Australian Legislative Election of 3 October 1998". Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  3. ^ "About Dr Mal Washer". Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Liberals join gay marriage conscience vote call". The Age. Melbourne. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Australian Parliamentary Group for Drug Law Reform". Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  6. ^ ABC, The World Today, 15 August 2011
  7. ^ Corderoy, Amy (13 March 2014). "Fiona Nash's decision to axe drug and alcohol adviser has cost $1 million". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  8. ^ Uribe, Alice (5 January 2018). "Medicinal cannabis producer AusCann says it's 'light years' ahead of competitors". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 April 2018.