Sir Charles Walter Michael Court AK KCMG OBE (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 8 April 1974 to 25 January 1982. A member of the Liberal Party, Court was the member for Nedlands in the Parliament of Western Australia from 1953 to 1982. He held multiple portfolios during this time, including as the minister for industrial development from 1959 to 1971, when he became known for developing Western Australia's mining industry.

Born in England, Court's family migrated to Perth when Court was a baby. He grew up in a working-class family in Leederville and Shenton Park. Court's political beliefs became conservative as a young adult when working as an accountant during the Great Depression. He soon married and moved to Nedlands, where he lived most of his life. During World War II, Court served in the Second Australian Imperial Force in Bougainville Island, which earned him an Order of the British Empire. He joined the Liberal Party in 1946 and was elected to parliament at the 1953 state election.

Court became deputy leader of the Liberal Party in 1957 and a minister after the party won the 1959 state election, serving under Premier David Brand. As the minister for industrial development, Court oversaw the Ord River Scheme, the development of the Kwinana industrial area, and the beginning of extensive iron ore mining in the Pilbara after the federal government lifted an embargo on iron ore exports. As the minister for railways from 1959 to 1967, Court oversaw the gauge standardisation project. Court lost his portfolios when the Liberal Party lost the 1971 state election.

After Brand's retirement in 1972, Court became the Liberal Party's leader. The following day, he was knighted. Court became premier and treasurer upon the party's victory in the 1974 state election. During his eight years as premier, Court continued to promote mining and industry, focusing on the North West Shelf Venture, an oil and gas project off the north-west coast of the state. Court also supported the arts by having the government purchase His Majesty's Theatre and initiating the Perth Cultural Centre. Court's strong opposition to Aboriginal land rights aroused controversy when Court supported Amax Petroleum's drilling at an Aboriginal sacred site on Noonkanbah Station. Other controversies included an amendment to the Police Act to prevent gatherings of more than three people in a public place and the closure of the Fremantle railway line in 1979. Court resigned as premier and from parliament in 1982. He was succeeded as the member for Nedlands by his son, Richard Court, who was premier himself from 1993 to 2001.

Court was born on 29 September 1911 in Crawley, Sussex, England. He was the eldest of two sons of Rose Rebecca Rice and Walter James Court, a plumber. The name Charles came from his mother's brother, Walter from his father, and Michael because he was born on Michaelmas Day. The Court family left Crawley on 18 March 1912, bound for Western Australia. As the Port of Southampton was stifled by a coal strike, they travelled via Antwerp in Belgium, boarding the German ship Cassel. They arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 1 May 1912. The family planned to return to Crawley within five years, but that never eventuated, first because Walter Court struggled to secure a job in Perth, then due to illness, then due to World War I.

The Court family spent their first eight years in Western Australia living in Leederville, just north of Perth. Walter Court eventually obtained a job digging sewerage and drainage trenches, where he formed a good enough impression that he was referred to a plumber who offered him a job. Walter later got injured, and then in January 1916, enlisted in the army. At the time, Rose was pregnant with their second son. Walter trained at Blackboy Hill Camp and left for France in March 1916. Six weeks later, Sydney Hugo Court was born. Charles shouldered heavy responsibility while his father was away. One time, when Walter's pay stopped coming through, Charles was sent down to the Perth Trades Hall to give a note to the union secretary.

Court's first three years of school were at the local infants' school. He then attended Leederville Primary School. Walter arrived home in May 1919. By then a lance corporal, Walter first served with the 177th Tunnelling Company and later with the Australian Electrical and Mechanical Miners and Builders Unit. Walter again found difficulty in securing a job. He found irregular work for plumbers H Rance and Son. As the economy improved, the work became more regular. Walter was a strong unionist and supported the Labor Party. He admired Labor premier Philip Collier and took Charles to union rallies. In 1921, the Court family purchased and moved into a house in West Subiaco (now Shenton Park), using a War Service Homes Scheme loan. In West Subiaco, Charles attended Rosalie Primary School, and from 1924 to 1926, he attended Perth Boys School.

Meanwhile, in 1919, Court started learning to play the cornet and he soon joined a succession of local bands. Beginning at age 12, Court played in music competitions. He later joined the RSL band, which consisted of ex-servicemen. It was renamed the RSL memorial band so that Court could join, and he became the band's solo cornet. He also joined the Young Australia League band and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which got Court his first job. When he was 15, the secretary of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra asked the patron, Sir William Campion, who was also the governor of Western Australia, to put in a good word, which resulted in Court gaining a job as an office boy for law firm Robinson Cox & Wheatley.