David Wordsworth

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2016}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Honourable

|name = David Wordsworth

|honorific-suffix =

|image =

|image_size =

|alt =

|caption =

|office = Member of the Legislative Council
of Western Australia

|constituency = South Province

|term_start = 22 May 1971

|term_end = 21 May 1989

| predecessor = Edward House

| successor = None {{Small|(seat abolished)}}

|constituency2 = Agricultural

|term_start2 = 22 May 1989

|term_end2 = 21 May 1993

|alongside2 = Brown, Caldwell, Chance, Charlton, McAleer

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1930|6|9|df=yes}}

|birth_place = Kashmir, India

|death_date =

|death_place =

|party = Liberal

}}

David John Wordsworth (born 9 June 1930) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1971 to 1993. He served as a minister in the government of Sir Charles Court.

Wordsworth was born in Kashmir, India, to Margaret Joan (née Reynolds) and Robert Wordsworth. His Australian-born father was a British Indian Army general, and settled in Tasmania after World War II, eventually being elected to the Australian Senate. Wordsworth was educated at Launceston Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School (the latter in Victoria), and went on to study agriculture at New Zealand's Lincoln College. He initially farmed at Hagley, Tasmania, but left for Western Australia in 1961, buying a property near Esperance.[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/54C9BB7CB6DE47E6482577E50028A85C?OpenDocument David John Wordsworth] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2016. In 1958, he had married Marie Louise Johnston, a daughter of Bertie Johnston (a former senator). The couple had three children.Melenie Ambrose (17 April 2007). [http://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/discovering-bertie/story-e6frg3j3-1111113366910 "Discovering Bertie"] – PerthNow. Retrieved 22 May 2016.

Wordsworth was elected to the Shire of Esperance council in 1969, and at the 1971 state election was elected to the Legislative Council's South Province. After the 1977 election, he was named Minister for Transport in the Court government.New Transport Minister Electric Traction April 1977 page 62 Following a ministerial reshuffle in August 1978, he was instead appointed Minister for Lands and Minister for Forests, titles which he would hold until Court resigned as premier in January 1982. The Legislative Council was reformed prior to the 1989 state election, and Wordsworth transferred to the new Agricultural region. He served only a single four-year term before leaving parliament. Wordsworth retired to Perth, and was a member of the senate of Murdoch University from 1994 to 1998.