Robin Chapple
Robin Howard Chapple (11 February 1947—) is a retired Australian politician.
Born in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, Chapple arrived in Western Australia on 6 November 1974. He began work as a surveyor and engineer in various Central Desert and Northern Indigenous communities; his final role before entering Parliament was co-ordinator with the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia. Elected to represent Western Australia's Mining and Pastoral Region in 2001, Chapple was defeated in 2005 only to be re-elected in 2008. He held the seat until his retirement from politics in 2021 ("Hon. Robin Howard Chapple MLC", n.d.).
Chapple is a passionate supporter of voluntary euthanasia law reform, and has stated that this is due to his own experience witnessing the painful death of his mother (Chapple, 2017). He introduced assisted dying bills to state parliament in 2002 and 2010, but both were ultimately unsuccessful ("Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill personal for Greens MP", 2018).
From August 2017 to August 2018 Chapple was a member of the Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices ("Hon. Robin Howard Chapple MLC", n.d). The resulting report, "My Life, My Choice" informed successful legislation; the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was passed 24-11 in 2019 to make WA the second state after Victoria to legalise voluntary euthanasia (Perpitch, 2019).
Chapple, R. (2017, December 4). Robin Chapple: Euthanasia and why I’m for it. Perth Now. https://www.perthnow.com.au/opinion/robin-chapple-euthanasia-and-why-im-for-it-ng-b88678816z
Hon. Robin Howard Chapple MLC. [n.d.]. Parliament of Western Australia. https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament%5CMemblist.nsf/WAllMembersFlat/Chapple,+Robin+Howard?opendocument
Perpitch, N. (2019, December 5). Voluntary euthanasia bill passes WA Upper House with laws set to take hold within days. ABC News online. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-05/wa-voluntary-euthanasia-law-passes-upper-house-vote/11771302
Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill personal for Greens MP. (2018, November 19). Hon. Robin Chapple MLC - Member for the Mining & Pastoral Region. https://www.robinchapple.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-bill-personal-greens-mp
