The Honourable Phil Edman MLC |
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Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for South Metropolitan Region | |
Assumed office 22 May 2009 |
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Personal details | |
Born | 24 August 1970 |
Political party | Liberal |
Phillip John "Phil" Edman (born 24 August 1970) is an Australian politician.
Born in Tamworth, New South Wales, Edman arrived in Western Australia in 1976. He was a business proprietor before entering politics. After unsuccessfully contesting the House of Representatives seat of Brand for the Liberal Party in the 2004 and 2007 federal elections, he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council for South Metropolitan in 2008. His term commenced on 22 May 2009.
Phil Edman served as a Councillor with the City of Rockingham from 2005 until 2009, for the Ward of Safety Bay.
Edman was elected to the Thirty-eighth Parliament in the Western Australian Legislative Council for the South Metropolitan Region in 2008. His term commenced on 22 May 2009.
He subsequently won re-election in 2013 for the South Metropolitan Region, and was made Government Whip in the Legislative Council on 23 March 2013.
In 2014, acting on the concerns of numerous constituents in the Rockingham area, Phil Edman began a campaign aimed toward altering the legislation governing the sale, possession and use of synthetic drugs in the state of Western Australia.
A prominent concern raised by Edman was that a local store which sold synthetic drugs was closely situated to a High School. He stated, "one of the problems is one of these shops is directly across from one of our high schools in my electorate."
In order to draw attention to the issue of synthetic drugs, Edman brought a packet of synthetic cannabis into the Legislative Council Chamber on 18 June 2014, as a protest statement. Despite risking arrest over the incident, he claimed that as long as his action brought more attention to the dangers of synthetic drugs, it would be worth the legal ramifications.
On 20 May 2015, the Misuse of Drugs Amendment (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2015 was introduced to the Western Australia Legislative Assembly. Its purpose was to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981, to include the regulation of the "manufacture, sale, supply, and promotion of psychoactive substances."
The Bill successfully passed through the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, and was subsequently assented on 18 November 2015. Under the new laws, those individuals who have been found guilty of manufacturing, selling or supplying substances that induce a psychoactive effect, face a fine of $48,000.00 or a four year jail term.