Harry Lawson
Encyclopedia
Sir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson KCMG
(5 March 1875 - 12 June 1952), Australia
n politician, was the 27th Premier of Victoria.
Lawson was born in Dunolly
, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman of Scottish
descent. He was educated at a local school and then briefly Scotch College
in Melbourne
. He was a noted Australian rules football
er, playing for Castlemaine
. He studied law with a Melbourne law firm and was called to the bar. He then went into practice in Castlemaine, and was elected to the town council, serving as mayor in 1905. In 1901 he married Olive Horwood, with whom he had eight children.
for Castlemaine
as a Liberal
in 1899, and represented the town for 28 years. He was President of the Board of Land and Works in the government of William Watt
from 1913 to 1915, and Attorney-General in the government of Alexander Peacock
from 1915 to 1917. He remained loyal to Peacock when most country Liberal members supported John Bowser
's rural faction, the Economy Party, and when Bowser's short-lived government ended in resignation in May 1918, Lawson succeeded him.
Lawson proved to be the most successful Premier Victoria had seen to date, holding office for six continuous years, something none of his 26 predecessors had done. This was despite the further fragmentation of the non-Labor
vote with the emergence of the Country Party
. At the 1921 elections, Lawson's Nationalist Party
won 30 seats, to Labor's 20 and the Country Party's 13. Both Labor and the Country Party preferred Lawson to each other, so Lawson was able to survive as a minority Premier. He was helped by Labor's continuing inability to win seats outside its strongholds in the industrial suburbs of Melbourne and a few provincial towns.
The biggest test Lawson faced was the 1923 Victorian Police strike
, which saw riots and looting in the streets of Melbourne. There was also increasingly bitter industrial strife in Melbourne as the prosperity of the prewar years failed to return. There were major strikes on the waterfront and in the coal mining industry. Lawson gained a reputation as a tough conservative. He refused to give in to the demands of the police for better pay and conditions, running the risk of a breakdown in law and order, but once the strike was over he appointed a Royal Commission
into their grievances, which gave them much of what they wanted.
In September 1923 Lawson formed Victoria's first conservative coalition, taking in five Country Party ministers. The coalition broke down in March 1924 when the Country Party made demands Lawson would not accept. The Country Party ministers resigned, and then united with Labor to bring Lawson down. After unsuccessfully contesting the Speakership, he retired to the back bench, where he stayed until October 1928, when he quit state politics altogether.
, Lawson was elected to the Senate
as a Nationalist, taking his seat in July 1929. In October the Scullin
Labor government came to power and he spent two years in opposition. In October 1933 he was appointed an Assistant Minister in the Lyons
United Australia Party
government, and in 1934 he was made Minister in charge of Territories
. In 1933 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
. At the 1934 election
, election he retired, his parliamentary term ending in June 1935.
Lawson died in East Melbourne
, survived by seven of his eight children. His wife died in 1949 and his youngest son had joined the Royal Australian Air Force
and was killed in 1941.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(5 March 1875 - 12 June 1952), Australia
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, was the 27th Premier of Victoria.
Lawson was born in Dunolly
Dunolly, Victoria
Dunolly is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Dunolly - Maryborough Road, in the Shire of Central Goldfields. At the 2006 census, Dunolly had a population of 969....
, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
descent. He was educated at a local school and then briefly Scotch College
Scotch College, Melbourne
Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. He was a noted Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er, playing for Castlemaine
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...
. He studied law with a Melbourne law firm and was called to the bar. He then went into practice in Castlemaine, and was elected to the town council, serving as mayor in 1905. In 1901 he married Olive Horwood, with whom he had eight children.
State politics
Lawson was elected to the Victorian Legislative AssemblyVictorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
for Castlemaine
Electoral district of Castlemaine and Maldon
The Electoral district of Castlemaine and Maldon was a former electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly .-Members for Castlemaine:-Members for Castlemaine and Maldon:-Members for Castlemaine and Kyneton:-See also:...
as a Liberal
Commonwealth Liberal Party
The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....
in 1899, and represented the town for 28 years. He was President of the Board of Land and Works in the government of William Watt
William Watt
William Alexander Watt PC was an Australian politician who was the 24th Premier of Victoria, and later a leading federal politician and Speaker of the House of Representatives....
from 1913 to 1915, and Attorney-General in the government of Alexander Peacock
Alexander Peacock
Sir Alexander James Peacock, KCMG , Australian politician, was the 20th Premier of Victoria.Peacock was born of Scottish descent at Creswick, the first Victorian Premier born after the gold rush of the 1850s and the attainment of self-government in Victoria. He was distantly related to the family...
from 1915 to 1917. He remained loyal to Peacock when most country Liberal members supported John Bowser
John Bowser
John Bowser , Australian politician, was the 26th Premier of Victoria. He was born in London, the son of an army officer, and arrived in Melbourne as a child with his family. He grew up at Bacchus Marsh and when he left school got a job with the Bacchus Marsh Express...
's rural faction, the Economy Party, and when Bowser's short-lived government ended in resignation in May 1918, Lawson succeeded him.
Lawson proved to be the most successful Premier Victoria had seen to date, holding office for six continuous years, something none of his 26 predecessors had done. This was despite the further fragmentation of the non-Labor
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...
vote with the emergence of the Country Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
. At the 1921 elections, Lawson's Nationalist Party
Nationalist Party of Australia
The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
won 30 seats, to Labor's 20 and the Country Party's 13. Both Labor and the Country Party preferred Lawson to each other, so Lawson was able to survive as a minority Premier. He was helped by Labor's continuing inability to win seats outside its strongholds in the industrial suburbs of Melbourne and a few provincial towns.
The biggest test Lawson faced was the 1923 Victorian Police strike
1923 Victorian Police strike
The 1923 Victorian Police strike occurred in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. On the eve of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in November 1923, half the police force in Melbourne went on strike over the operation of a supervisory system using labour spies...
, which saw riots and looting in the streets of Melbourne. There was also increasingly bitter industrial strife in Melbourne as the prosperity of the prewar years failed to return. There were major strikes on the waterfront and in the coal mining industry. Lawson gained a reputation as a tough conservative. He refused to give in to the demands of the police for better pay and conditions, running the risk of a breakdown in law and order, but once the strike was over he appointed a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
into their grievances, which gave them much of what they wanted.
In September 1923 Lawson formed Victoria's first conservative coalition, taking in five Country Party ministers. The coalition broke down in March 1924 when the Country Party made demands Lawson would not accept. The Country Party ministers resigned, and then united with Labor to bring Lawson down. After unsuccessfully contesting the Speakership, he retired to the back bench, where he stayed until October 1928, when he quit state politics altogether.
Federal politics
At the 1928 electionAustralian federal election, 1928
Federal elections were held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...
, Lawson was elected to the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
as a Nationalist, taking his seat in July 1929. In October the Scullin
James Scullin
James Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was...
Labor government came to power and he spent two years in opposition. In October 1933 he was appointed an Assistant Minister in the Lyons
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
United Australia Party
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
government, and in 1934 he was made Minister in charge of Territories
Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Home Affairs has been Brendan O'Connor since 6 June 2009. The Home Affairs portfolio brings together agencies such as the Australian Customs Service , the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, which were previously the...
. In 1933 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
. At the 1934 election
Australian federal election, 1934
Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led...
, election he retired, his parliamentary term ending in June 1935.
Death and legacy
East Melbourne, Victoria
East Melbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, adjacent to Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, East Melbourne had a population of 4,330....
, survived by seven of his eight children. His wife died in 1949 and his youngest son had joined the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
and was killed in 1941.