The Hon Steve Irons, MP

Steve Irons defied the polls in May and won the seat of Swan for the fifth time. He’s proud to continue delivering to his diverse electorate as he has always seen his role as helping others.

Steve was born in 1958, the sixth of ten children. When he was just six months old his parents couldn’t make ends meet, so Steve became a ward of the state. He was 3 years old when he joined the Irons family. His foster parents had emigrated from South Africa and wanted to pay back the country that took them in by fostering a little boy to complete their family of a boy and three girls.

Steve went to both primary and high school in Melbourne then completed an electrical apprenticeship. It was football that brought him to the West in late 1981, playing for East Perth Football Club. He also started working for a national company - he worked his way up and in just over a decade he owned the business.

It was 1992 when Steve’s greatest achievement happened: the birth of his son Jarrad. When Jarrad was 12 Steve became a sole custodial parent – giving him insight into the struggles many single-parent families face. It was in 2007 when Steve thought ‘you can’t criticise people unless you’re going to have a go yourself’ and so he did – running for the first time for the seat of Swan. Steve won, becoming the only Liberal in Australia to defeat a sitting Labor MP that election.

In 12 years Steve has seen more than $2.2 billion in infrastructure funding for the Swan electorate. He’s delivered more than $200million to removing railway level crossings, $10million for dementia care at Bentley and the current construction of a Manning Road freeway on ramp. Steve’s most proud of his involvement and advocation for Forgotten Australians: the more than half a million children who were institutionalised between the 1920s and 70s because of poverty.

It was during a trip back to Melbourne where Steve met his wife Cheryle. Within five months they were married and Cheryle joined Steve here Perth. They’ve now been married for eight years with Cheryle being an enormous support in the last 3 election campaigns.

Steve is looking forward to delivering on election promises made during that campaign to the seat of Swan, including the renovation of Edward Millen House in East Victoria Park, the Football West facility at Queens Park and the new aquatic centre worth 65 million dollars for South Perth.

He was proud to recently open the new West Coast Eagles facility which he gained funding of $13 million for.

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