Retiring Liberal MLA John McGrath talked about his involvement in the new stadium, voluntary assisted dying, and passion for horse racing.
Retiring Liberal MLA John McGrath talked about his involvement in the new stadium, voluntary assisted dying, and passion for horse racing.
It's been a brutal year for the WA Liberals, but retiring South Perth member John McGrath had a brightspot.
A horse his son has a small stake in, Ice Bath, placed second in the Golden Eagle in October, the world's fourth richest race.
Fitting perhaps for a man who never saw himself as a politician; and was a big advocate for sports in parliament.
A former sports journalist, Mr McGrath, known as "Matchie", has served as the member for South Perth District since 2005.
But the 73-year-old is handing over the reins.
His successor will be determined at tomorrow’s state election, with Liberal candidate Ryan Chorley up against Labor’s Geoff Baker.
Speaking to Business News late last year, Mr McGrath said he was particularly proud of his involvement in the new Perth Stadium and his position on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act.
He was an advocate for the new stadium to be built at a greenfields site like Burswood, rather than as a reconstruction of Subiaco Oval which had been recommended by a government taskforce.
That advocacy was credited in the media as highly influential in the Barnett government’s eventual decision to build the stadium at Burswood.
One speech in parliament was particularly pivotal.
Mr McGrath cited the Hepburn-Stephenson planning report from 1955, which had picked Burswood Island for the stadium location, among a range of reasons to back Burswood.
Premier Colin Barnett liked the idea and it became policy.
In 2011, Mr McGrath was appointed parliamentary secretary responsible for the development, working with Sports Minister Terry Waldron as the premier’s representative.
Perth Stadium opened in 2018, with a capacity of 60,000 seats in oval form.
It was named the most beautiful sporting facility in the world in the 2019 Prix Versailles architectural prizes.
“To me, personally, it was an achievement, and it’s a great stadium,” Mr McGrath said.
“There’s a lot of satisfaction for me in that.”
VAD debate
One of the toughest challenges for Mr McGrath was the legalisation of voluntary assisted dying, a policy which incited passionate debate.
The 2019 laws were intended to allow euthanasia for people with terminal illnesses in WA.
But there was also controversy, particularly among more conservative voters, and parties allowed a conscience vote.
Mr McGrath was a Liberal representative on the parliamentary committee which reviewed the issue.
That process went on for a year.
“I knew a lot of my colleagues didn’t support it, but I made a stand,” he said.
“I didn’t think it was Liberal Party DNA…. but I made a stand.
“After listening to evidence of loved ones who died terrible deaths, I knew then I had to support it.”
Mr McGrath worked with the government to get the legislation passed, and was an early backer.
While the Labor government was unlikely to face any roadblocks in the state’s lower house, the upper house would be a different matter.
It was unclear at the time whether the government would have the numbers in the Legislative Council to pass the laws, where the Labor Party held only 14 seats out of 36.
Some Labor members were also believed to be against the bill, too, so a potentially tight vote loomed.
A turning point was when Liberal MLC Tjorn Sibma came out in support of the legislation on the front page of WA’s major daily newspaper.
Mr Sibma said at the time public opinion had been overwhelmingly in favour of passing the laws.
Mr McGrath said while his support had caused some friction with some colleagues, he had received a lot of backing from members of the public.
Passion for sport
John McGrath grew up in a family of six in Hamilton Hill.
He would enjoy a game of backyard cricket and had a keen interest in sport.
While his family did not talk much politics at the dinner table, he did listen to former Prime Minister Robert Menzies on the statesman's visits to Perth.
“The way he responded to heckling… I was just impressed by him,” Mr McGrath said.
After he left school, he worked as an office boy for The West Australian newspaper, and attended night school learning English and history.
Mr McGrath went on to work more than 40 years at The West, particularly as a sports journalist.
As a cadet, one of his early roles was recording vegetable prices at shops, penning a column on grocery costs in the days before big supermarkets.
He covered courts and police and wrote for country papers, but Mr McGrath was also keen on sports, and would help with coverage of games on weekends by counting statistics to help more senior reporters.
Mr McGrath first covered yachting, but was more interested in horse racing and football.
He married Karen Wagner in 1969, the daughter of a horse trainer.
The 1970s were perhaps the greatest period for horse racing, Mr McGrath said.
“You couldn’t move down there (at Gloucester Park) some nights,” he said.
“It was the days before the casino, (Perth) didn’t have night entertainment (as) we do now.”
Over those years, he also owned horses.
In the 1980s, some of Perth’s best known businessmen were involved in horse racing.
Merchant banker Laurie Connell was famous for his exploits around the race track, with one of his horses testing positive for a performance enhancing drug.
Weeks later, another horse, Rocker Racer, significantly outperformed the field but was not tested, reportedly because of dehydration.
Mr Connell was reportedly also sentenced over perverting the course of justice during a racing investigation.
“I covered racing through the Laurie Connell era, Rocket Racer,” Mr McGrath said.
“Those were pretty storied rimes in racing.”
Reflecting on his coverage during those years and involvement since, Mr McGrath said racing had changed a lot.
“I think that racing is a lot cleaner now than it’s ever been,” he said.
In parliament, he was a strong advocate for the privatisation of the TAB, a government-owned betting agency.
Mr McGrath called for the TAB to be privatised as 2013 to fund infrastructure upgrades for the racing industry.
Those included a new track at Belmont, and a new home for greyhound racing in Cannington.
That eventually became state Liberal government policy under Colin Barnett, and then Labor government policy under Mark McGowan.
However, opposition from Labor and the Nationals had blocked the sale under the Barnett government, and while the legislation was passed in 2019, the privatisation has since been paused because of COVID-19.
The level of respect for Mr McGrath was indicated after the enabling laws were passed in 2019, when Treasurer Ben Wyatt thanked Mr McGrath for his advice and support on the sale plans.
“I worked with them,” Mr McGrath said.
“The racing industry is one thing I understand inside out.”
He also persuaded colleagues to back the sale, some of whom had wanted to make it difficult to score political points.
“I never liked playing politics,” he said.
And more generally, this reflects his philosophy as a member of parliament.
“I’ve never been a really political person,” Mr McGrath said.
“My politics have always been to do the right thing by your neighbour.”
