Vince Catania

Vincent Alexander Catania (born 23 February 1977) is an Australian former politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2008 to 2022. He was previously a member of the Legislative Council from 2005 to 2008. Catania represented the Labor Party until July 2009, when he switched to the National Party.

Vince Catania
Catania outside Parliament House, Perth
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
for North West Central
In office
9 March 2013 – 8 August 2022
Preceded byNone (new seat)
Succeeded byMerome Beard
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
for North West
In office
23 September 2008 – 9 March 2013
Preceded byNone (new seat)
Succeeded byNone (abolished)
Member of the Legislative Council
of Western Australia
In office
22 May 2005 – 12 August 2008
Serving with Archer, Baston, Ford, Moore
ConstituencyMining and Pastoral Region
Personal details
Born
Vincent Alexander Catania

(1977-02-23) 23 February 1977
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Political partyLabor (to 2009)
National (from 2009)

Early life

Catania was born in Perth to Rita (née Tonus) and Nicholas Mark Catania. His Italian-born father was also a state member of parliament, representing the Labor Party. Catania attended Trinity College. Prior to entering parliament, he served as state president of the Young Labor movement, and also held various positions in branch offices.[1]

Politics

Catania was elected to parliament at the 2005 state election, running in third position on the Labor ticket in the Mining and Pastoral Region. He was 28 years old when his term began in May 2005, making him the youngest person ever to sit in the Legislative Council.[2] At the 2008 state election, Catania switched to the Legislative Assembly, winning the seat of North West. This also made him the youngest person to serve in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia.[1] However, in July 2009, Catania announced that he would be leaving the Labor Party and joining the National Party. He cited dissatisfaction with Eric Ripper, the Labor leader, and concerns that Labor had become too "city-centric".[3]

In a redistribution prior to 2013 state election, the North West electorate was abolished and replaced with the new seat of North West Central. The new electorate remained a marginal seat, with a notional non-Labor majority of 3.3 points. At the election, Catania and the Nationals received a 21.0-point swing on first preferences, with Labor being relegated to third place behind the Liberals. The final two-candidate-preferred count had the Nationals winning 59.7 percent of the vote.[4] In December 2013, a few months after the election, Catania was made parliamentary secretary to Mia Davies, the new Minister for Water and Minister for Forestry. He has also served two terms as the National Party whip.[5]

In June 2022, he announced his intention to resign from parliament in August to spend more time with his family.[6][7][8] He tendered his resignation to the speaker on 8 August.[9][10]

Personal life

Catania is married and has five children.[6]

See also

References
  1. Vincent Alexander Catania, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  2. David Black (2014), The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook (Twenty-Third Edition) Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Perth [W.A.]: Parliament of Western Australia, p. 239.
  3. Chalpat Sonti, "Vince Catania quits Labor", WAtoday, 21 July 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  4. North West Central (*)(Key Seat), WA Votes 2013, ABC News. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  5. Mr Vincent Alexander Catania MLA, Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  6. Spagnolo, Joe (9 June 2022). "Vince Catania announces shock resignation from politics creating a by-election bombshell". The West Australian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  7. Hastie, Hamish (10 June 2022). "Nationals MP Vince Catania announces retirement from WA parliament". WAtoday. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  8. Bourke, Keane (14 July 2022). "North West Central voters still have no date for by-election to replace Nationals MP Vince Catania". ABC News (Australia). Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  9. Bourke, Keane (9 August 2022). "Nationals MP Vince Catania hands in resignation for WA seat of North West Central". ABC News. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  10. Law, Peter (9 August 2022). "WA Labor to skip North West Central by-election amid tension between Mark McGowan and Alannah MacTiernan". The West Australian. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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