Grant Woodhams

Grant Allen Woodhams (born 7 August 1952 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a former Australian politician. He was the National Party of Australia member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from February 2005 to March 2013. He won the state elections for the district of Greenough in 2005 and the district of Moore in 2008.

Career Woodhams arrived in Western Australia in 1967. He was schooled in Perth and Albany, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Murdoch University before starting work with ABC radio in Tasmania, among other states of Australia such as New South Wales. Woodhams left the ABC in 2004 to pursue a Master of Education degree.

Woodhams ran for and won the seat of Greenough in the 2005 state election, defeating the one-term Liberal MP Jamie Edwards. He was re-elected at the 2008 state election in the seat of Moore, which had expanded to include the area previously overseen by the Greenough district. Woodhams was elected Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in November 2008. Woodhams's style of oratory became well known with and without the chamber, as he "occasionally gave his speeches as poems or songs", particularly in his budget reply speeches. He concluded his valedictory speech in 2012 with his own version of "Clancy of the Overflow", entitled "Woodie, the Speaker of the Overflow".

Personal life Woodhams announced in 2012 that he would retire to spend more time with his family. He was succeeded by Shane Love, who held the seat for the National Party in 2013.