A leadership spill of the Western Australian Labor Party occurred on 12 February 1990. It resulted in the replacement of premier and party leader Peter Dowding with Carmen Lawrence, making her the first female state premier in Australia. It also resulted in the replacement of deputy premier and deputy party leader David Parker with Ian Taylor. The leadership spill occurred as a result of the government's increasing unpopularity as a result of the WA Inc scandal.
The premier of Western Australia, Brian Burke, who had been in power since 1983, was replaced by Peter Dowding in February 1988 in an amicable transition. At the same time, David Parker replaced Mal Bryce as deputy premier. The Labor Party narrowly won the February 1989 Western Australian state election. [1] Since then, the Labor Government had been growing increasingly unpopular as a result of the WA Inc controversy, in which hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money was wasted through the government's close involvement with businesses. [1] [2] [3]
During the District Court trial of Western Colleries Limited [lower-alpha 1] director Tony Lloyd, his defence lawyers argued that Premier Dowding and Acting Energy Minister Julian Grill had ordered Lloyd to pay off a Rothwells debt using a $15 million cheque. In January 1990, Lloyd was found guilty of acting improperly, making him the first person convicted for an offence relating to WA Inc. [lower-alpha 2] This made the Dowding Labor Government even more unpopular, [2] [5] [4] with opinion polls showing support was as low as 32%. [3] Dowding's popularity was also hurt by his arrogant attitude, which annoyed colleagues. [4]
Additionally, the 1990 Australian federal election was coming up, and the Labor Party wanted to limit the seats lost by the party in Western Australia. Having a state leader less associated with WA Inc would have helped with that. [2] [3] [6]
State Secretary Stephen Smith, FMWU Secretary Jim McGinty, and seven Labor politicians – Carmen Lawrence, David Parker, Ian Taylor, Kay Hallahan, Keith Wilson, Geoff Gallop and Pam Beggs – met together to discuss Peter Dowding's leadership. They decided that he should be forced out of the leadership. [4] By 7 February 1990, the majority of the 47 members of the Labor caucus had signed a letter calling for Dowding's resignation. [1] [2] Minister for Education and Aboriginal Affairs Carmen Lawrence and Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Conservation and Land Management, and Waterways Ian Taylor were seen as most likely to win the leadership, with Lawrence having a slight edge over Taylor. [7]
On 8 February 1990, Dowding returned early from the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in order to shore up his leadership, spending the next several days speaking to party members in an attempt to ensure their support. [4] [8] He also held a cabinet meeting on 9 February. [9]
At a caucus meeting on 12 February, Dowding and his deputy, David Parker, resigned from their positions. Lawrence was elected as the leader of the Labor Party, making her the first female premier in Australia. [lower-alpha 3] Taylor was elected as the deputy leader of the party, making him the deputy premier of Western Australia. [2] [11] Both were elected unopposed. [12] Lawrence was seen as a good candidate as she had little association with WA Inc. [3] Dowding criticised the leadership challenge, saying that the timing was premature and was done to help Labor win the federal election, rather than for what's good for the state. [4]
Parker remained in cabinet, serving as the minister for resources, trade and the arts. He resigned from parliament on 26 April 1990. Dowding was on the backbench until his resignation from parliament on 26 April 1990. Grill was put on the backbench as well. [2] [4] [12] An opinion poll showed that support for the federal Labor Party in Western Australia increased following the leadership change. The poll also showed that WA Inc would influence the decision of 56% of Labor voters, down from 65% the previous week. [13] At the federal election held in March 1990, the Labor Party only lost one seat in Western Australia. [1]
At the 1993 state election, the Lawrence Labor Government was defeated by Richard Court's Coalition. The swing against Labor was less than expected however, at 2.9%. [14]
The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive branch of the Government of Western Australia and is accountable to the Parliament of Western Australia. The premier is appointed by the governor of Western Australia. By convention, the governor appoints as premier whoever has the support of the majority of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Western Australia. In practice, this means that the premier is the leader of the political party or group of parties with a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. Since Western Australia achieved self-governance in 1890, there have been 31 premiers. Roger Cook is the current premier, having been appointed to the position on 8 June 2023.
Carmen Mary Lawrence is an Australian academic and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. To date she is the only female premier of Western Australia. A member of the Labor Party, she later entered federal politics as a member of the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2007, and served as a minister in the Keating government.
Peter McCallum Dowding SC is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was the 24th Premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parliament from 1980 to 1990.
Brian Thomas Burke is an Australian former politician who was the 23rd premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 to his resignation on 25 February 1988. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 30 March 1973 to 25 February 1988, representing the electoral districts of Balga and Balcatta at various points, and was the leader of the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia from 18 September 1981 to 25 February 1988. Burke studied law at the University of Western Australia for one year before dropping out. During the 1960s and early 1970s, he worked as a journalist for The West Australian newspaper, 6PM radio station, and Seven News Perth. He was elected to Parliament at the 1973 Balcatta state by-election, becoming one of the most popular local members over the following years. In 1981, he became the leader of the Labor Party in a leadership spill. He led the Labor Party to its first election victory since 1971 at the 1983 Western Australian state election, defeating the Liberal-National government of Ray O'Connor.
Raymond James O'Connor was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of the Parliament of Western Australia from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in the governments of David Brand and Charles Court. O'Connor was born in Perth and attended schools in the Wheatbelt towns of Narrogin and York as well as St Patrick's Boys' School in Perth, leaving school at the age of 14. He competed in athletics and played Australian rules football as a teenager and young adult, including playing 14 matches for East Perth in the Western Australian National Football League. During World War II, he served in the Second Australian Imperial Force in New Britain and Bougainville.
WA Inc was the name for a set of public-private partnerships in Western Australia in the 1980s associated with the Western Australian Development Corporation, which became a political scandal. The state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie Connell, Dallas Dempster, John Roberts, and Warren Anderson. These dealings resulted in a loss of public money, estimated at a minimum of $600 million and the insolvency of several large corporations.
Joseph Max Berinson was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the Australian House of Representatives and the Western Australian Legislative Council. He was Minister for the Environment in the Whitlam government for several months in 1975, later serving a decade as Attorney-General of Western Australia.
This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1989 to 1993:
In Australian politics, a leadership spill is a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions. Where a rival to the existing leader calls for a spill it may also be called a leadership challenge. When successful, it is often said that the former leader has been "rolled". In Australian English the colloquial use of the word "spill" seems to have begun in the mid-1940s with the contest to replace Prime Minister John Curtin after his death on 5 July 1945.
The Dowding Ministry was the 30th Ministry of the Government of Western Australia, and was led by Labor Premier Peter Dowding and his deputy, David Parker. It succeeded the Burke Ministry on 25 February 1988, upon the retirement of Brian Burke from politics on the fifth anniversary of his becoming Premier.
The Lawrence Ministry was the 31st Ministry of the Government of Western Australia, and was led by Labor Premier Dr Carmen Lawrence and her deputy Ian Taylor. It succeeded the Dowding Ministry on 18 February 1990, following the resignation of Peter Dowding six days earlier following an open letter signed by a majority of the 47-member Labor caucus. The ministry was in turn succeeded by the Court–Cowan Ministry on 16 February 1993 after the Labor Party lost government at the state election held on 6 February.
Elsie Kay Hallahan is a former deputy leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party.
David Charles Parker is an Australian former politician from Western Australia, serving as a minister in the Burke Ministry (1983–1988), then as Deputy Premier in the Dowding Ministry (1988–1990). He later served a jail term for perjury for evidence given to the WA Inc royal commission.
Ian Frederick Taylor is a former Australian politician and Western Australian Deputy Premier and Opposition Leader.
Bevan Ernest Lawrence, a retired Western Australian barrister and Liberal political campaigner, is the older brother of Carmen Lawrence, a former Labor premier of Western Australia. In the 1980s he was a convenor of two notable lobby groups that influenced the course of government at federal and state levels.
Gordon Leslie Hill is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1982 to 1994. He served as a minister in the governments of Brian Burke, Peter Dowding and Carmen Lawrence.
Yvonne Daphne Henderson is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1983 to 1996. She served as a minister in the governments of Peter Dowding and Carmen Lawrence.
David Lawrence Smith is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1983 to 1996. He served as a minister in the governments of Peter Dowding and Carmen Lawrence.
The 1990 Maylands state by-election was a by-election for the seat of Maylands in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia held on 26 May 1990. It was triggered by the resignation of Peter Dowding on 26 April 1990. The Labor Party retained Maylands at the election, albeit with a reduced majority. Judy Edwards, a general practitioner based in Mount Lawley, secured 55.57 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. Edwards became only the second woman to win election to the Parliament of Western Australia at a by-election, after May Holman in 1925. The election occurred on the same day as the 1990 Fremantle state by-election.
