{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Ken Travers | honorific_suffix = | image = Ken Travers.jpg | image_size = 150px | caption = Travers in 2011 | office = Member of the Legislative Council<br/>of Western Australia | constituency = North Metropolitan Region | term_start = 22 May 1997 | term_end = 29 August 2016 | alongside = Behjat, Burton, Cadby, Cash, Collier, Dermer, Evans, Giffard, Halligan, Hodgson, Katsambanis, Mischin, Pritchard, Ravlich, Watson | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|2|1}} | birth_place = Bramber, Sussex, England | death_date = | death_place = | party = Labor }}
'''Kenneth Dunstan Elder Travers''' (born 1 February 1961) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1997 to 2016, representing North Metropolitan Region.
==Early life== Travers was born in Bramber, Sussex, England, to Ailsa (née Elder) and Laurence John Travers.<ref name="bio">[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/MemberNames/Travers,%20Kenneth%20(Ken)%20Dunstan%20Elder?OpenDocument Kenneth (Ken) Dunstan Elder Travers] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 19 July 2016.</ref> He is a descendant of Edward Ogilvie, a 19th-century member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.<ref>[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/memblist.nsf/(MemberPics)/9AA2D06D4FF7029F482565D0002C542C/$file/InaugTravers.pdf Tuesday, 10 June 1997], Hansard (Legislative Council of Western Australia). Retrieved 19 July 2016.</ref> Travers' parents moved to Perth when he was an infant, and he attended Mount Lawley Senior High School. After leaving school, he was employed as a customs officer for several years, and later also as a bus driver. From 1989, he worked as a political adviser and electorate officer, including in the office of Senator Chris Evans.<ref name="bio"/>
==Politics== Travers was elected to parliament at the 1996 state election, to a term commencing in May 1997. He was immediately included in the shadow ministry of Geoff Gallop. However, when Labor was elected to government at the 2001 election, Travers was not made a minister, but instead only a parliamentary secretary. After the 2005 election, he was made deputy chairman of committees in the Legislative Council, a position which he held until 2013. The Labor government was defeated at the 2008 election, and Travers was included in the shadow ministry formed by the new leader, Eric Ripper.<ref name="parl">[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament%5CMemblist.nsf/WAllMembersFlat/Travers,+Kenneth+(Ken)+Dunstan+Elder?opendocument Hon. Kenneth (Ken) Dunstan Elder Travers MLC], Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 19 July 2016.</ref> He retained his place when Mark McGowan replaced Ripper as leader in 2012, but resigned from the shadow ministry in June 2015 for personal reasons.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-03/wa-mp-ken-travers-resigns-from-shadow-cabinet/6517930 "Labor MP Ken Travers resigns from WA shadow cabinet"], ABC News, 3 June 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2016.</ref> Travers retired from parliament in August 2016, and was replaced by Laine McDonald.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-18/macgowan-backs-alannah-mactiernan-after-ken-travers-resigns/7762580 "Alannah MacTiernan: Labor leader backs return after Ken Travers bows out"], ABC News, 19 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.</ref>
==See also== * Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Ken}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Category:English emigrants to Australia Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Category:People educated at Mount Lawley Senior High School Category:People from Bramber Category:21st-century Australian politicians