Hendy Cowan
Hendy Cowan
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Hendy Cowan

Hendy John Cowan AO (born 25 April 1943) is a former deputy premier of Western Australia.

He had served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the member for Merredin from 30 March 1974 (known as Merredin-Yilgarn until 19 February 1977). He won the seat in 1974, defeating a one-term Labor incumbent. A 1977 redistribution made the seat very secure for him, and he would never be seriously threatened at an election again.

He represented his electorate for a total of 27 years, including 23 years as leader of the National Party in Western Australia between 1979 and 2001.

Cowan retired from the parliament on 16 October 2001, having been the Western Australian assembly's Father of the House since 14 December 1996.

Cowan was born in Merredin on 25 April 1943, the son of James Cowan, a farmer from Narembeen and Ruth Anderson. He is a grandnephew of Edith Cowan, the first woman elected as a representative in an Australian parliament.

He was educated at Mount Walker Primary school and later at Hale School. He returned to the family farm in 1959 and married Anita Treloar on 2 January 1965.

Cowan was an active sports participant in the district, playing and coaching local football, tennis, golf and basketball clubs. He played more than 350 games for the Narembeen Football Club and in his last seven years with the club played in six grand finals, helping to win four flags. He was awarded a life membership of the club.

Representing the National Country Party (NCP), he defeated Labor's James McMillan Brown in the March 1974 election for the seat of Merredin-Yilgarn.

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