Hon. Peter Collier was elected to the 37^th Parliament for the North Metropolitan Region on February 26, 2005. Following his re-election in September 2008, he was sworn in as Minister for Energy; Training for the new Liberal-National Government on September 23.

Before the 2008 State Election, Mr Collier held the position of shadow minister in a number of portfolios, including Education and Training (April 8, 2006 – September 23, 2008), Heritage; Training and Higher Education; Works and Services (February 4, 2006 – April 8, 2006), Science (September 26, 2005 – February 4, 2006) and Communication; Science (May 22, 2005 – September 26, 2005).

In addition, Mr Collier has served on many State and Federal committees including the National Expert Advisory Committee on School Drug Education, the Western Australian Youth Advisory Committee and the WA Youth Grants Selection Committee.

Before entering Parliament, Mr Collier had an outstanding career in teaching. He was Head of Department (Political and Legal Studies, History) at Scotch College and was also Head of Politics and History at Presbyterian Ladies’ College. He also taught at Lesmurdie Senior High School and John Curtin Senior High School.

Mr Collier has been heavily involved in tennis. He was the professional coach at the Peppermint Grove Tennis Club for 15 years and was the tour coach of Jenny Byrne, Dinky Van Rensburg and Joanne Faull in 1989 and 1990. He was also named WA Tennis Coach of the Year in 1990 by the Tennis Coaches’ Association.

Looking ahead, there are many challenges in both the energy and training sectors, particularly in the current economic downturn. It is important to ensure our energy industry grows in a timely, cost-effective and sustainable manner. From a training perspective, support will be given to the State’s public training institutions while the importance of private training providers will be recognised.