Carmen Lawrence
Overview
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician; a former Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia.
After leaving the State Parliament of Western Australia
Parliament of Western Australia
The Parliament of Western Australia consists of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly . The Parliament sits at Parliament House in Harvest Terrace, Perth....
Lawrence became a Member of the House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
in the Australian federal parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
.
Lawrence became the first directly elected Federal President of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
in 2003. She retired from parliament in November 2007.
Carmen Lawrence was born in Northam
Northam, Western Australia
Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2006 census, Northam had a population of 6,009. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region...
, in the agricultural district of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
and spent her early childhood in the towns of Gutha
Gutha, Western Australia
Gutha is a townsite in the Mid West region of Western Australia, north of Morawa.In 1913 it was decided to establish a train station there, on the Wongan Hills – Mullewa railway. The district surveyor suggested the name "Muthingutha", the Aboriginal name of a nearby rockhole. This was shortened to...
and Dongara
Dongara, Western Australia
Dongara is a town located 351 km north-northwest of Perth on the Brand Highway. The town is located at the mouth of the Irwin River. In recent years the area has been marketed as the 'Rock lobster capital of Australia'....
.
She was one of seven children of Ernest Richard Lawrence, a farmer, and his wife Mary Norma (née Watson).
From the age of six she was educated at various Roman Catholic boarding schools: Marian Convent at Morawa
Morawa, Western Australia
Morawa is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is located within the Shire of Morawa, approximately 370 kilometres north of the state capital Perth, on the railway line between Wongan Hills and Mullewa.- History :...
; Dominican Ladies College at Dongara and Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College, Perth
Santa Maria College is a Roman Catholic, boarding and day school for girls, situated in Attadale, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia....
at Attadale
Attadale, Western Australia
Attadale is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Melville.It was the first subdivision of A.P. Matheson's Melville Water Park Estate. Attadale was named after an estate in Scotland situated on the south side of Loch Carron....
from which she matriculated in 1964 with distinctions in six subjects, a General Exhibition for Academic Achievement and a Special Subject Exhibition in economics.
