Early years Roberts joined the Labor Party in 1978, and has served as a party official at both state and federal level. She was elected to the
Perth City Council in 1986 and served as a councillor until 1993, including as deputy lord mayor to
Reg Withers from 1992. Roberts first ran for parliament at the
1993 state election, standing unsuccessfully for the
Legislative Council in fourth place on Labor's ticket in the
East Metropolitan Region.
2001–2008: cabinet minister After Labor's victory at the
2001 state election, Roberts was appointed
Minister for Police,
Minister for Emergency Services, and
Minister for Local Government. She lost the local government portfolio to
Tom Stephens in a reshuffle in July 2001, at which point her other two portfolios were merged. In June 2003, Roberts was also made
Minister for Justice and
Minister for Community Safety. She lost the justice portfolio to
John D'Orazio in a reshuffle after the
2005 state election. In the new ministry, Roberts became
Minister for Housing and Works,
Minister for Consumer Protection,
Minister for Heritage, and
Minister for Land Information. She was additionally made
Minister for Indigenous Affairs in December 2006, although she lost the
consumer protection portfolio. In March 2007, Roberts was also made
Minister for Employment Protection, serving in that role until being replaced by
Jon Ford in February 2008. She held her remaining portfolios until Labor's defeat at the
2008 state election. When
Mark McGowan succeeded Ripper as leader in January 2012, Wyatt returned as shadow treasurer and Roberts was instead made shadow police minister. She came close to losing her seat at the
2013 state election, eventually winning Midland by just 24 votes on the
two-party-preferred count. This was a negative swing of 8.3 points from the
2008 election.
2017–2021: cabinet minister Labor regained government at the
2017 state election, winning the largest majority government in the state's history at the time. Roberts herself saw off her 2013 opponent, Daniel Parasiliti, with somewhat less difficulty, picking up a swing of over 12 percent to turn Midland into a safe Labor seat at one stroke. She was appointed as Minister for Police and Minister for Road Safety in McGowan's government. With former Premier
Colin Barnett's retirement from politics in 2018, Roberts became the Mother of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as its longest-serving member.
2021–2025: Speaker of the Legislative Assembly After Labor was re-elected with an even larger majority in
2021, Roberts was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the first woman to hold the post. Her ascension to the post came as a record 28 women were elected to the Legislative Assembly. In her first address as Speaker, Roberts said that she took up the post 100 years after
Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to a legislature at any level in Australia. "This is a clear signal to the community and to women of just how far we've come," she said, "but it has taken over a century to do it." She stood down at the
2025 Western Australian state election. She was succeeded by Labor candidate
Steve Catania. ==References==