{{short description|Australian politician}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = Ron Bertram |honorific_suffix = |image = |image_size = |office = Attorney-General of Western Australia |term_start = 3 March |term_end = 30 September 1971 |predecessor = Arthur Griffith |successor = Tom Evans |office2 = Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly |constituency2 = Mount Hawthorn |term_start2 = 23 March 1968 |term_end2 = 19 February 1983 |predecessor2 = Bill Hegney |successor2 = None {{Small|(abolished)}} |constituency3 = Balcatta |term_start3 = 19 February 1983 |term_end3 = 4 February 1989 |predecessor3 = Brian Burke |successor3 = Nick Catania |birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|6|22|df=y}} |birth_place = Inglewood, Western Australia |death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|11|17|1924|6|22|df=y}} |death_place = West Leederville, Western Australia |party = Labor }} '''Ronald Edward Bertram''' (22 June 1924 – 17 November 2014) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1968 to 1989. He briefly served as a minister in the government of John Tonkin.
Bertram was born in Perth to Maude (née Bennett) and Walter Bertram. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in June 1943, and saw service in New Guinea during the war. Bertram was discharged from the army in 1946, and subsequently worked as an accountant. He later studied law part-time, and was called to the bar in 1954, allowing him to practise as a barrister. Bertram first ran for parliament at the 1965 state election. He contested the newly created North Metropolitan Province, but was defeated by Arthur Griffith of the Liberal Party.<ref name="bio">[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/A1465D596CB4ACED482577E50028A522?OpenDocument Ronald Edward Bertram] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2016.</ref> Bertram eventually entered parliament at the 1968 state election, replacing the retiring Bill Hegney in the seat of Mount Hawthorn.<ref name="res">{{cite book|last=Black|first=David|authorlink=David Black (historian)|last2=Prescott|first2=Valerie|title=Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth, [W.A.]|isbn=0730984095}}</ref>
Bertram was re-elected at the 1971 state election, which saw a Labor victory, and was then appointed Attorney-General and Minister for Railways in the new ministry formed by John Tonkin.<ref>New Transport Minister ''Truck & Bus Transportation'' April 1971 page 127</ref> However, he resigned from cabinet after just under seven months in office, due to ill health.<ref name="bio"/> He was the shortest-serving state attorney-general since Frederick Moorhead in 1901.<ref>[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/Publications+Ministers+-+2016+Attorneys+General/$FILE/Attorney+Generals.pdf Attorneys General of Western Australia] – Parliamentary Library of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2016.</ref> Following Labor's defeat at the 1974 state election, Bertram was included in Labor's Tonkin shadow cabinet. He remained a member until 1980, serving under three leaders of the opposition (John Tonkin, Colin Jamieson, and Ron Davies).<ref name="bio"/> At the 1983 election, the seat of Mount Hawthorn was abolished, and Bertram successfully transferred to the seat of Balcatta, which he held until his retirement at the 1989 election.<ref name="res"/> He died in Perth in November 2014, aged 90.<ref name="bio"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-wa}} {{s-bef|before=Bill Hegney}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Mount Hawthorn|years=1968–1983}} {{s-non|reason=Abolished}} {{s-bef|before=Brian Burke}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Balcatta|years=1983–1989}} {{s-aft|after=Nick Catania}} |- {{s-off}} |- {{s-bef|before=Arthur Griffith}} {{s-ttl|title=Attorney-General|years=1971}} {{s-aft|after=Tom Evans}} {{s-bef|before=Ray O'Connor}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister for Railways|years=1971}} {{s-aft|after=Jerry Dolan}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertram, Ron}} Category:1924 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Attorneys-general of Western Australia Category:Australian Army soldiers Category:Australian barristers Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Category:Politicians from Perth, Western Australia