Nick Goiran

Nicolas Pierre Goiran was born on 15 October 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[1] He studied at Murdoch University in Western Australia, graduating with a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Commerce double degree, majoring in banking and finance. In December 2000, after graduating, Goiran was admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia as a barrister and solicitor. 18 months later, he became an equity partner. Around 2007, Goiran sold his equity in the firm and joined another law firm, becoming a consultant.[2]

Prior to entering parliament, Goiran was a member of the Christian Democratic Party.[3][4] By 2006,[5] Goiran had joined the Liberal Party with the goal of being elected to parliament.[2] He unsuccessfully sought preselection for the safe Labor seat of Peel for the 2007 Peel state by-election.[5] In February 2008, the Liberal Party preselected him as the second candidate on their ticket for the South Metropolitan Region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, replacing the retiring Barbara Scott.[1][6][7] At the 2008 Western Australian state election on 6 September 2008, he was elected. His term in parliament commenced on 22 May 2009.[1]

In February 2016, Goiran replaced Simon O'Brien as the top candidate on the Liberal's South Metropolitan Region ticket for the 2017 election.[3]

Goiran was in the newly created position of parliamentary secretary to the minister for mental health and minister for child protection from 23 September 2016 to 17 March 2017, the day that the Labor Party was sworn in to government.[1][8] From 21 March 2017, he was the secretary of the parliamentary Liberal Party. From 25 March 2017 to 19 April 2021, he was the shadow minister for child protection and shadow minister for the prevention of family and domestic violence. From 28 February 2020 to 19 April 2021, Goiran was also the shadow minister for commerce. From 19 April 2021 to present, Goiran has been the shadow minister to the attorney general, shadow minister for child protection, and shadow minister for industrial relations.[1]

By 2016, Goiran had become a key powerbroker within the Liberal Party alongside fellow MLC Peter Collier and senator Mathias Cormann.[9] Following the resignation of Liberal Party leader Liza Harvey on 22 November 2020, Goiran and Collier backed Zak Kirkup over Dean Nalder to replace Harvey as leader. Following this, Nalder criticised Goiran and Collier, saying they are not good for the party.[10] After the March 2021 election, ABC News said that it was unrealistic to achieve preselection in the Perth metropolitan area for the Liberal Party without the support of Goiran or Collier.[11]

At the March 2021 election, the Labor Party won a majority in the Legislative Council for the first time ever. In May 2021, before the new Legislative Council was sworn in, Goiran introduced a motion for the establishment of a select committee into the transparency and accountability of government. The committee was to be composed mostly of non-Labor MLCs, and have a member of the opposition as its chair.[12] Instead, the government and the opposition reached a compromise. The existing Estimates and Financial Operations Committee was now to be chaired by Peter Collier and composed of mostly non-Labor MLCs, including Goiran. The Uniform Legislation Committee was now chaired by Liberal MLC Donna Faragher. Goiran withdrew his previous motion.[13]

In August 2021, Goiran was revealed to be part of a WhatsApp group who called themselves "The Clan", alongside Collier, Cormann, federal Liberal MP Ian Goodenough and other Liberal Party members. Leaked messages show that the group was used to discuss branch stacking and the preselection of candidates.[14] Several Liberal Party branches in the southern suburbs of Perth requested that the party send Goiran to the party's appeals and disciplinary committee, which has the power to censure, suspend or expel any member of the party.[15][16] The Liberal Reform Coalition called for Goiran and Collier's resignation from the party at the group's inaugural meeting in December 2021. The group was formed by former state Liberal Party leader Bill Hassell and former state party president Norman Moore in order to improve the image of the party. Among the group's 60 members is former Liberal Premier Richard Court, former state Liberal leader Barry MacKinnon, former senator and defence minister David Johnston and former Legislative Council president Barry House.[17][18] In January 2022, an investigation into Goiran was launched by the party’s appeals and disciplinary committee.[19]

In an addendum to a Liberal Party report published in August 2021 which reviewed the party's 2021 election loss, the members of The Clan were described as exhibiting "odious behaviour".[20] Goiran followed up by threatening legal action against the Liberal Party's state director and the authors of the report, with his lawyer saying that allegations in the report were "totally false, without basis and constitute serious defamation of him".[21] Goiran and the Liberal Party reached a non-financial settlement in February 2022, with the party agreeing to withdraw the report.[22]

Goiran identifies as a conservative, saying that human life should be protected "from conception until natural death", and that "lifelong marriage between a man and a woman guarantees children their biological birthright of a mother and a father".[2] ABC News and The West Australian have described him as a "vocal conservative Christian".[14][23]

In his maiden speech to parliament, he said that Labor's plans to decriminalise and regulate prostitution were what prompted him to leave the legal profession and run for parliament. He put forward the "Swedish model", which makes prostitution legal but buying sex and brothel ownership illegal.[24]

In August 2013, Goiran spoke out against same-sex marriage in parliament, saying that it could lead to an increase in incest and polygamy. Premier and Liberal Party leader Colin Barnett said that Goiran's comments were innappropriate.[25]

In May 2017, Goiran moved a motion for a parliamentary inquiry into elder abuse. He wanted the inquiry to consider whether elder abuse should be made into a specific offense.[26]

WAtoday had described Goiran as "one of the staunchest pro-life campaigners in WA parliament". He has campaigned for parliament to inquire into the deaths of 27 babies born alive after attempted abortions since 1999. In 2017, Goiran tabled in parliament a petition calling for the inquiry signed by 7,243 people.[27]

In April 2019, Goiran delayed a surrogacy bill by delivering a speech lasting over 22 hours in total over two months, in what was one of the Western Australia Parliament's longest filibuster speeches. On seven different occasions, Goiran spoke for over two hours uninterrupted, and on one occasion, he spoke for 5 hours straight. The bill was going to allow single men and same-sex couples access to surrogacy. Upon the completion of the speech, the Legislative Council agreed to send the bill to be examined by a parliamentary committee. The Labor Party accused Goiran of wasting time and being undemocratic.[23][28]

Goiran has opposed legalising euthanasia or voluntary assisted dying. He was the only person on the Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices to oppose recommending for the government to legalise voluntary euthanasia for patients suffering from terminal illnesses, saying that it is "a recipe for elder abuse", and that it would have a negative impact on efforts for preventing suicide.[29] When the bill for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) was in the Legislative Council in 2019, Goiran spoke on every clause of the bill, causing the council's sitting hours to be extended. He proposed 357 amendments to the bill, including that a psychiatric assessment be required for VAD patients. Supporters of the bill said that Goiran was attempting to delay voting on it. Premier Mark McGowan said that Goiran's behaviour was "disgraceful" and "worse than filibustering", but Goiran denied that he was trying to filibuster.[30][31] In the end, the bill had 55 amendments, 25 of which were Goiran's. After the bill was passed in December 2019, Goiran called it the "most dangerous piece of euthanasia legislation in Australian history".[31]

In 2021, Goiran was one of three Legislative Council members that opposed a bill to criminalise protesting within 150 metres (490 ft) of abortion clinics.[32]

Goiran has attracted criticism for being one of only two members of the Parliament of Western Australia that refuses to reveal their COVID-19 vaccination status, alongside Legalise Cannabis WA MLC Sophia Moermond. In October 2021, he criticised and questioned the lawfulness of the Western Australian Government's requirement that certain occupations get vaccinated against COVID-19.[33] In parliament, he has said that "I support vaccinations. I also support the right of individuals to medical privacy". When Parliament passed a motion that MP's must have three doses of COVID-19 vaccines or provide a valid exemption to be in the chamber, Goiran did not exit, showing that he has met those conditions.[34][35]