Paul Papalia

Who is Paul Papalia?

Paul Papalia CSC is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since February 2007. Originally the member for Peel. he is now the member for Warnbro. A decorated former navy diver who served two tours in Iraq, Papalia entered parliament after winning a by-election sparked by the resignation of scandal-tarred former minister Norm Marlborough.

Papalia was born in Bunbury, Western Australia. He served in the Royal Australian Navy for 26 years before entering politics, working as a navy diver and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He specialised in explosives retrieval and escape and rescue, and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. He served with the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq during the early 1990s, and was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in 1994 for his work there. Papalia later returned to Iraq during the Iraq War, serving as executive officer in an Australian mine-clearing team. He left the navy in 2004, and operated a small business renovating houses up until the time of his election to parliament.