Governor appoints two new justices of the peace in Western Australia

The Governor in Executive Council has approved the appointment of two Western Australians to the Office of Justice of the Peace for the State of Western Australia: Gary William Cochrane of Greenwood and Carol Marinkovich of Denham. The approval is notified in notice JU402, issued under the Justices of the Peace Act 2004 and published in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 140 of 3 November 2026.

The notice appears in the Justice section of the gazette under the heading “APPOINTMENTS” and is cast in the standard formula used for such instruments: “It is hereby notified for public information that the Governor in Executive Council has approved of the following to the Office of Justice of the Peace for the State of Western Australia”. It is subscribed by Joanne Stampalia, Deputy Director General, Court and Tribunal Services, and carries no other conditions, terms or commencement provision.

The instrument is published on page 2535 of the edition, immediately after notice JU401 under the Public Trustee Act 1941, which fixed interest rates for estates and trusts held in the Common Account as at 1 November 2026. The same edition also carries local government notices beginning on page 2536, parliamentary material from page 2537 and public notices from page 2538.

The two appointees

The gazette records the appointments by name and by the locality of residence supplied with each nomination:

• Gary William Cochrane, of Greenwood.
• Carol Marinkovich, of Denham.

No other persons are listed in the notice, and no biographical details, occupations or prior offices are given.

A steady stream of appointments

Notices under the Justices of the Peace Act 2004 appear regularly in the gazette, typically naming between one and six people at a time. Recent editions have included Patricia Carmel Goodman of Lake Coogee, Joanne Frances Hill of Mindarie, Shona Elizabeth Hopper of St James, Kellie Jean Mason of Doubleview, Karen Ivette Quigley Sosa of Belmont and Michelle Leanne Stubbs of Mount Lawley in the 20 October 2026 edition, and Peter James Doody of Abbey, Megan Jane Irving of Menzies and Andrew Robert Zint of Kalgoorlie in the 9 October 2026 edition.

Earlier notices in the same run added justices in Nannup, Norseman, Narrogin and Sinclair, alongside appointees from Perth suburbs. Departures are gazetted separately: on 15 September 2026 the Minister accepted the resignations of Robert Reginald James Fisher of Dalkeith and Doreen Fay Jones of Mandurah from the same office, and further resignations were recorded in August.

What the notice does and does not say

The notice is published “for public information” and records only that the Governor in Executive Council has approved the appointments. It does not state a date of effect, a term of office, or the number of justices already serving in any locality, and it does not identify the minister who brought the matter to the Executive Council.

Under the gazette’s own publishing rules, material submitted to the Executive Council before gazettal requires a copy of the signed Executive Council Minute Paper, and copy must reach the Publications Officer at the Department of the Premier and Cabinet by noon on the last working day before the edition. The gazette is issued by the Government Printer on Tuesdays and Fridays, with special editions published as required.

Relevance for readers

Justices of the peace perform everyday legal functions outside the courts, and a named appointee in a town is often the practical difference between a document being witnessed or certified locally and a long trip to do it. For residents of Greenwood and Denham, the notice confirms that the two new justices now hold the office for the State of Western Australia, and it places their names on the public record in the State’s official register of appointments.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 140 of 3 November 2026, Justice section, p. 2535 (official reference: JU402).