The Hon. Dr Carmen Mary Lawrence MP (born 2 March 1948), Australian politician, former Premier of Western Australia and the first directly elected Federal President of the Australian Labor Party in 2003. She is currently the Federal member for Fremantle. Carmen Lawrence was the first woman to become premier of an Australian state. John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Peter MCallum Dowding SC (born October 6, 1943 in Melbourne) was the 24th Premier of Western Australia, serving from February 25, 1988 until his resignation on February 12, 1990 after an internal party dispute. ... Richard Fairfax Court AC (born Nedlands, September 27, 1947), was Liberal Party Premier of Western Australia between 1993 and 2001. ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Northam (Latitude 31° 38 0 S, Longitude 116° 40 0 E) is a town in Western Australia, birthplace of Shirley Strickland, Frederick Henry Piesse and Carmen Lawrence. ... Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person (3rd) Population (December 2006)  - Population  2,050,900 (4th)  - Density  0. ... The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. ... The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is Australias oldest political party. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. ... The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is Australias oldest political party. ... The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. ...

Lawrence was born in Northam, a country town in Western Australia. She was educated at Catholic schools including Dominican Ladies College at Dongara, and at the University of Western Australia in Perth, where she attained a PhD in psychology. She worked as a tutor at the University of Melbourne, then as a lecturer at the University of Western Australia until 1983. She then worked for three years for the Western Australian Department of Health. Northam (Latitude 31° 38 0 S, Longitude 116° 40 0 E) is a town in Western Australia, birthplace of Shirley Strickland, Frederick Henry Piesse and Carmen Lawrence. ... Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person (3rd) Population (December 2006)  - Population  2,050,900 (4th)  - Density  0. ... Dongara is a townsite located 351 km NNW of Perth on the Brand Highway. ... The University of Western Australia (UWA) is Western Australias oldest university, established in February 1911, and is the only West Australian university to be a member of the Group of Eight lobby group for tertiary institutions. ... The Perth skyline viewed from the Swan River This article is about the urban area of Perth, Western Australia. ... The Old Quad Building, formerly Old Law The University of Melbourne, located in Melbourne, Victoria, is the second oldest university in Australia, and the oldest in Victoria. ... The University of Western Australia (UWA) is Western Australias oldest university, established in February 1911, and is the only West Australian university to be a member of the Group of Eight lobby group for tertiary institutions. ...

During this period Lawrence joined the Labor Party. In 1986 she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, and in 1988 she was appointed Minister for Education. The Western Australian Labor government was in a state of crisis as a result of corruption allegations against the cabinets of two successive premiers, Brian Burke and Peter Dowding, the so-called "WA Inc" period. In February 1990, Dowding was forced to resign and Lawrence replaced him as Premier. The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. ... Brian Thomas Burke (born in Perth, February 25, 1947) was Premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988. ... Peter MCallum Dowding SC (born October 6, 1943 in Melbourne) was the 24th Premier of Western Australia, serving from February 25, 1988 until his resignation on February 12, 1990 after an internal party dispute. ... WA Inc and the ensuing WA Inc royal commission relate to a period in the mid to late 1980s in Western Australia when the incumbent State Government became involved in major business dealings with private businessmen including particularly Alan Bond and Laurie Connell. ...

In November 1992 the Easton Affair entered the public spotlight when a petition was tabled alleging that the Richard Court had leaked information to a party in a divorce case. On 10 November Lawrence told Parliament that she had had no prior knowledge of the petition. This is a list of major political scandals in Australia: Nevanas affair (1915) Mungana Affair (1929) Petrov Affair (1954) Gair Affair (1974) Cairns-Morosi affair (1975) Loans Affair (1975) Combe-Ivanov affair (1983) the Fitzgerald Inquirys investigation of Joh Bjelke-Petersen for corruption (1987) Marshall Islands affair (1992) Sports... The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party not in government in a Westminster System of parliamentary government. ...

In February 1993 the Lawrence government was defeated by the Liberals and Richard Court became Premier. Lawrence stayed on as Opposition Leader until early 1994, when she entered federal politics. In March she won a by-election for the federal seat of Fremantle (once held by Labor Prime Minister John Curtin, and later, Whitlam-era Education Minister Kim Beazley senior), and was immediately appointed Health Minister in the Keating government. The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. ... John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945), Australian politician and 14th Prime Minister of Australia, led Australia through the darkest period of its history: when the Australian mainland came under direct military threat during the Japanese advance in World War II. Many Australians regard him as the countrys... Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC (born 11 July 1916), known as Gough Whitlam (, pronounced Goff), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia. ... The Hon. ... Paul John Keating (born January 18, 1944), was an Australian politician and the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996. ...

In May 1995 Premier Court ordered the Marks Royal Commission to determine only if Lawrence had prior knowledge of the petition relating to the Easton affair. On November 14, the Royal Commission determined that Lawrence had misled the Western Australian Parliament when she denied knowledge of the petition. Keating denounced the Commission as a political stunt and accused the Commissioner, Kenneth Marks QC, of bias. In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. ...

Kim Beazley, also from Western Australia, became the new Labor Leader after the loss of government. Lawrence was elected to the Opposition frontbench and appointed Shadow Environment Minister. On the 21 February, 1997, Lawrence was charged with three counts of perjury resulting from the Marks Royal Commission. She immediately stood down from the shadow ministry. On 23 July, 1999, she was found not guilty. For Kim Beazleys father, Kim Beazley senior, see Kim Edward Beazley. ...

In September 2000 Beazley approved her re-election to the Labor frontbench, and appointed her shadow minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, the Arts and Status of Women. During the November 2001 federal election campaign Lawrence strongly disapproved of the line taken by Beazley on the issue of asylum seekers (see MV Tampa), and during 2002 she became increasingly dissatisfied with Labor's position on migration and asylum seeker issues. In December 2002 she resigned, in protest, from the Shadow Cabinet. The MV Tampa is a Norwegian cargo ship that was at the centre of a diplomatic dispute between Australia, Norway, and Indonesia which began off the coast of Christmas Island in August 2001. ...

During 2002 the Labor Party approved a series of reforms proposed by its leader Simon Crean, among them the direct election of the party's National President by the party membership (the post had previously been filled by election at the party's National Conference). The election took place in November 2003. Lawrence emerged as the candidate of the party's left faction, and campaigned in favour of a policy of better treatment for asylum seekers entering Australia. Simon Findlay Crean (born 26 February 1949) an Australian politician, was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level, from November 2001 to 2 December 2003. ...

Although she did not win an absolute majority of the votes, Lawrence topped the poll and was elected President, taking office on 1 January, 2004, shortly after Mark Latham succeeded Crean as party Leader. Her term as National President ended on 1 January, 2005, when she was succeeded by Barry Jones. Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961), a former Australian politician, was Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005. ... Barry Jones, AO, is an Australian politician. ...

It was announced on 29 March 2007 that she would not recontest her seat in the Parliament at the 2007 Australian federal election. The next general election for the Parliament of Australia is expected to take place in late 2007, although it can be held as late as 19 January 2008. ...

External links

• Carmen Lawrence's website

Peter MCallum Dowding SC (born October 6, 1943 in Melbourne) was the 24th Premier of Western Australia, serving from February 25, 1988 until his resignation on February 12, 1990 after an internal party dispute. ... John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. ... Richard Fairfax Court AC (born Nedlands, September 27, 1947), was Liberal Party Premier of Western Australia between 1993 and 2001. ... Parliament House Canberra: The main entrance and the flag The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. ... John Sydney Dawkins was the Treasurer of Australia from December 1991 to December 1993. ... The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. ... Graham Richardson (born September 27, 1949, in Sydney, Australia) is a former Labor politician who was a numbers man for the right wing of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. ... Australian Ministers for Health Under Section 51(xi) of the Constitution of Australia, the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia had the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to Quarantine. ... Dr Michael Richard Lewis Wooldridge (born November 7, 1956) is an Australian doctor and politician and a former Health Minister of Australia. ...

Premiers of Western Australia
Forrest | Throssell | Leake | Morgans | James | Daglish | Rason | Moore | Wilson | Scaddan | Lefroy | Colebatch | Mitchell | Collier | Willcock | Wise | McLarty | Hawke | Brand | Tonkin | C. Court | O'Connor | Burke | Dowding | Lawrence | R. Court | Gallop | Carpenter