Peter Dowding | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 24thPremier of Western Australia | |
| In office 25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor | Gordon Reid |
| Deputy | David Parker |
| Preceded by | Brian Burke |
| Succeeded by | Carmen Lawrence |
| Treasurer of Western Australia | |
| In office 25 February 1988 – 28 February 1989 | |
| Premier | Himself |
| Preceded by | Brian Burke |
| Succeeded by | David Parker |
| Leader of theWestern Australian Labor Party | |
| In office 25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990 | |
| Deputy | David Parker |
| Preceded by | Brian Burke |
| Succeeded by | Carmen Lawrence |
| Member of theWestern Australian Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 8 February 1986 – 26 April 1990 | |
| Preceded by | John Harman |
| Succeeded by | Judy Edwards |
| Constituency | Maylands |
| Member of theWestern Australian Legislative Council | |
| In office 22 May 1980 – 15 January 1986 Serving with Bill Withers,Tom Stephens | |
| Preceded by | John Tozer |
| Succeeded by | Tom Helm |
| Constituency | North Province |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1943-10-06)6 October 1943 (age 81) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Labor Party |
| Spouse | 4 |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Bruce Dowding (uncle) |
| Alma mater | University of Western Australia |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Peter McCallum Dowding[a]SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was thepremier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990 due to aleadership spill. He was a member of theParliament of Western Australia from 1980 to 1990 and a member of theLabor Party.
Dowding graduated from theUniversity of Western Australia with aBachelor of Laws, and he subsequently worked as asolicitor andbarrister. In1980, he was elected to theNorth Province of theWestern Australian Legislative Council, the parliament'supper house. He entered theBurke ministry when Labor won the1983 state election and changedportfolios several times over the ensuing years due to cabinet reshuffles. At the1986 state election, Dowding transferred to theLegislative Assembly, the parliament'slower house, winning thesafe seat ofMaylands.
In December 1987, PremierBrian Burke announced that he would resign on 25 February 1988. Burke picked Dowding as his preferred replacement, with a secret opinion poll showing that he was the best candidate for the party to choose. After several other contenders dropped out of the contest, Dowding was voted in unanimously as the party's leader on 30 December.
Dowding's popularity plunged following controversy caused byWA Inc. On 12 February 1990, he resigned as premier and leader of the Labor Party ahead of almost certain defeat in aLabor Party leadership spill. He was succeeded byCarmen Lawrence. Dowding soon resigned from parliament, and went back to practising law. Theroyal commission into WA Inc was scathing of Dowding, saying that he "presided over a disastrous series of decisions".
Dowding was born on 6 October 1943 inMelbourne, Victoria, Australia.[2] His parents wereKeith McCallum Dowding, a high-profile Presbyterian minister and left-wing political activist, and Marjorie Stuart D'Arcey, who died of suicide when Peter was eight.[5][6] He was educated at various schools in Australia and the United Kingdom, includingCaulfield Grammar School in Melbourne,Kelvinside Academy inGlasgow,The Scots College inSydney, andHale School inPerth, Western Australia.[2] As a teenager, he joined theLabor Party. Keith Dowding was also a member of the Labor Party and had attempted to enterFederal Parliament several times,[7] but he was expelled in the early 1960s for his opposition to theWhite Australia policy.[8][6][9] Dowding earned aBachelor of Laws degree from theUniversity of Western Australia in 1964, and was admitted to thebar in December 1966.[2][1]
In 1970, Dowding married his first wife, with whom he had two sons.[2] Between 1967 and 1972, he represented over 100Vietnam Warconscientious objectors,[9] successfully defending over 30 of them.[8] He also represented protesters who had been arrested at theNaval Communication Station Harold E. Holt, a U.S.-operated naval base inExmouth.[8] The case gained notoriety when Dowding proved that the police officers involved in the incident had swapped their name badges to prevent them from being identified. In 1968, Dowding entered intopartnership as Paterson and Dowding, where he concentrated onfamily law, soon becoming the best divorce lawyer in Perth according toThe Sydney Morning Herald.[10] He became a senior partner in 1977 and he sold out of the firm in 1980. From March 1975 until April 1976, Dowding was on theKalamunda Shire Council, and in 1976 and 1977, he worked as anotary public with theAboriginal Legal Service inPort Hedland, during which he met his second wife, aNgarluma woman fromRoebourne.[11][10]
In 1977, Dowding represented defeated Labor Party candidateErnie Bridge in a landmark case in theCourt of Disputed Returns. At the1977 state election, Bridge was defeated byLiberal candidateAlan Ridge by 93 votes in theelectoral district of Kimberley. The Liberal Party had worked to disenfranchiseAboriginal voters, many of whom were illiterate, by having lawyers stand outside polling stations to question their right to vote. The court found that over 90 people were illegally prevented from voting, and so the results were overturned. The resulting1977 Kimberley state by-election saw Ridge win again.[9][12][13][14] In 1980, he married his second wife, with whom he had one daughter and one son.[2][15][10]
Ahead of the1980 Western Australian state election, Dowding put himself forward to be the Labor candidate for theNorth Province, aLegislative Council seat which covered the northern side of the state, including thePilbara and theKimberley. With no other Labor members seekingpreselection, he was endorsed as the seat's Labor candidate.[16] At the election, he beat incumbent Liberal Party candidateJohn Tozer. Dowding was well supported by the province's large Aboriginal population, having promised to help them gainland rights and self-management.[17] His term commenced on 22 May 1980.[2]
Upon Labor's victory at theFebruary 1983 state election underBrian Burke, Dowding was made theminister for mines and theminister for fuel and energy.[2][18] Dowding's inclusion inthe ministry was a surprise, as he was the only member that was not part ofBurke's shadow ministry. Dowding was replacingMike Barnett, who did not nominate himself for the ministry due to family reasons.[19] In 1983, the Department of Mines and the Department of Resource Development merged to form the Department of Minerals and Energy, following a report commissioned by the previous government that was critical of the interdepartmental conflicts which occurred. This necessitated acabinet reshuffle. On 23 December 1983, Dowding became theminister for planning, theminister for employment and training, and theminister for consumer affairs.[2][20] At a cabinet reshuffle on 20 December 1984, he relinquished being the minister for planning and he became theminister for industrial relations in addition to being the minister for employment and training, and the minister for consumer affairs.[2][21]
At theFebruary 1986 state election, Dowding left his Legislative Council seat to contest theLegislative Assembly seat ofMaylands in a move widely seen as a step towards becomingpremier.[10][22][23] Maylands was asafe seat for the Labor Party, and was held by the retiringJohn Harman. Dowding retained the seat for the Labor Party at the election, after which, he stopped being the minister for consumer affairs.[24] In Perth, Dowding lived in the suburb ofMount Lawley.[25] From October 1986, in addition to his two prior ministries, he became the minister assisting the minister for public sector management.[2] He was given the responsibility of implementing the changes recommended in a parliamentarywhite paper,Managing change in the public sector, which included the public sector being more selective with choosing employees, attempting to retain graduates, and cutting back on staff in health.[26] In his role as minister for employment and training, he embarked on a tour of Europe, where he developed an interest in Sweden's regulated economy. It was inStockholm where he met his third wife. He convinced her to move to Australia, and in October 1987, they married at the oldPerth Observatory.[10][27][22] His positions were renamed to the minister for productivity and employment, and the minister for labour in a March 1987 cabinet reshuffle.[2][28] He also became theminister for works and services in that reshuffle.[2]
After months of speculation, in December 1987, Burke announced his intention to resign as premier and from parliament on 25 February 1988. Burke had named Dowding as his preferred successor.[29][30] A secret opinion poll conducted by the Labor Party in March 1987 found that Dowding was the most "electorally acceptable" candidate, however some trade unions and sections of the Labor Party disliked Dowding.[29][31] Other contenders wereDavid Parker,Bob Pearce, andJulian Grill,[30] however they all pulled out of contention before the 30 December Labor caucus vote due to Burke's influence, the opinion poll, and the desire for the party to be united.[29][32] Dowding was unanimously elected as the leader of the Labor Party and Parker was unanimously elected as deputy leader, replacingMal Bryce, who had also announced his intention to resign.[29]
Dowding andhis ministry were sworn in byGovernorGordon Reid on 25 February 1988. Dowding gave himself the positions oftreasurer,minister for productivity,minister for public sector management andminister for women's interests.[33][34] The changes made to cabinet were designed to replace ministers who had accrued controversy in their roles. This meant thatGordon Hill was replaced as theminister for police byIan Taylor and Pearce was replaced as theminister for education byCarmen Lawrence, a cabinet newcomer.[33]
Dowding was not part of any Labor Partyfaction. When asked about this, he replied that "my heart beats in the direction of giving Labor the opportunity to govern. Social issues are not the prerogative of theLeft. The Left gets sidetracked and theRight gets sidetracked. If my heart beats anywhere, it's in the centre."[35] In 2012, Dowding said in an interview that "I regarded myself as Left but I was in the centre. The Left was right socially and the Right was very right and I did not form allegiances very well."[16]
The March 1988by-elections in the electoral districts ofAscot andBalga hadswings away from the Labor Party of 14.8 percent and 21.3 percent respectively, which Dowding blamed on both the state and federal governments. The high informal vote caused the Dowding government to reverse the Burke government's 1987 addition ofticket voting in the Legislative Assembly.[33]
An opinion poll released in April 1988 found that 48 percent of those surveyed had no opinion on Dowding's performance. In an effort to increase his profile, the Labor Party ran a television advertisement campaign, Dowding released a comprehensive development strategy, and he adopted a higher profile when dealing with an industrial dispute. Polls in May and June showed that his profile had risen, with the undecided people falling to 22 percent. Those who rated him as "good" rose from 13 percent in April to 22 percent in June, those who rated him as "fair" rose from 33 percent to 50 percent, and those who rated him as "poor" stayed steady at 6 percent.[33]
Although the Labor Government was quite popular at the time,[30] theWA Inc scandal was starting to surface. The stock marketcrashed in October 1987, which spelled trouble for some of the government's private investments. TheRothwells merchant bank went into liquidation in November 1988.[36] Dowding said the government could lose up to $100 million from the bank's collapse, however opposition frontbencherBill Hassell said it would cost the government $400 million. The opposition ruled out blocking supply though.[37] In November, the Labor Party paid for a two-minute prime time television commercial where Dowding made a speech promising that no more taxpayer money would be spent on Rothwells.[38]
Additionally, the government was under fire after theTeachers' Credit Society donated $5,000 to the Labor Party in April 1987 after receiving an extension on a loan from theR&I Bank, a state-owned bank. The donation was given back soon afterwards.[33][38]
In the 1988–89 state budget, there was 23 percent more spending on education and 26 percent more spending on police. This meant one thousand more police officers within three years, as well as five hundred more teachers and 250 support staff for schools. This was in response to a 1988 national survey which showed that Western Australia had the largest classes in Australia. 66 percent of junior secondary classes had more than 25 students, and 36 percent had more than 30 students. The budget also included the release of two thousand state housing homes for sale, and the promise to build anelectric railway line to Joondalup at a cost of $124 million.[38]
At the1989 state election, the Labor Party had a primary vote swing of 10.5 percent against it, and atwo-party-preferred swing of 6.5 percent against it. Despite this, the party only lost one net seat in the Legislative Assembly, as the largest swings occurred in safe Labor seats and marginal seats generally had smaller swings. Labor's 31 seats out of 57 were enough for a majority. Following the election, Dowding reshuffled his cabinet, relinquishing his position as treasurer and the minister for productivity.[2][39]
Within six months of the 1989 election, some Labor MPs were dissatisfied with Dowding, finding him arrogant, rude, and difficult to work with.[40] His popularity was also hurt by theDistrict Court trial of Western Colleries Limited[b] director Tony Lloyd. His defence lawyers had argued that Dowding and acting energy minister 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.[41][42][c] After that, opinion polls showed support was as low as 32 percent.[41] Additionally, the1990 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.[43][41][45]
In early 1990, Dowding travelled to theWorld Economic Forum in Switzerland, after Parker assured him that nothing would happen to his leadership while he was gone.[46] State SecretaryStephen Smith,FMWU SecretaryJim McGinty, and seven Labor politicians – Lawrence, Parker, Taylor,Kay Hallahan,Keith Wilson,Geoff Gallop andPam Beggs – met together to discuss Peter Dowding's leadership, all deciding that he should be forced out.[44] By 7 February 1990, a majority of the 47 members of the Labor caucus had signed a letter calling for Dowding's resignation.[47][43] He returned early from the World Economic Forum on 8 February in order to shore up his leadership, spending the next several days speaking to party members in an attempt to ensure their support.[44][48] He also held a cabinet meeting on 9 February.[49] At a caucus meeting on 12 February, Dowding and Parker resigned from their positions. Lawrence was elected as the leader of the Labor Party and Taylor was elected as the deputy leader. They were sworn in as premier and deputy premier respectively later that day by the acting governor.[43][50] On that day, Lawrence promised to end WA Inc.[51] 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.[44]
On 5 April 1990, Parker announced his impending resignation from Parliament.[52] Although he planned on doing so later, Dowding resigned as well on 26 April 1990 to return to his career as a lawyer. Dowding said he had wanted to serve at least part of the upcoming session of Parliament, so he could defend his actions that lead to his downfall, but he resigned when he did at the request of Lawrence, who wanted the two by-elections to occur on the same day.[53]Judy Edwards retained the seat for Labor, succeeding Dowding as the member for Maylands atthe by-election.[54]
Lawrence initially resisted calls for aroyal commission into WA Inc, but after months of pressure, she announced in November 1990 that the royal commission would go ahead.[55][56]
Dowding testified in front of the commission in November 1991 regarding his dealings withLaurie Connell andAlan Bond, the bailout of Rothwells and the purchase of theKwinana Petrochemical Plant. When asked if the state government had moved to safeguard the $150 million guarantee to Rothwells, Dowding said "you don't assume that Bond would steal $1.2 billion or that Mr Connell would deceive and live like a parasite off the state."[57] When asked about the government's purchase of the petrochemical project, Dowding said that it was effectively a second rescue for Rothwells, but that he believed the project was viable and would not have made the deal otherwise.[58]
The commission handed down its first report on 20 October 1992, which made adverse findings against Dowding. The report said that "we have found that Mr Dowding acted improperly in interfering in the business affairs of theSGIC."[59] Dowding responded by saying that some of the commission's judgements of him were wrong, but that he was relieved the report did not find any of his decisions were corrupt or for financial gain.[60]
After leaving parliament, Dowding was admitted to the bar inNew South Wales.[61] He was a partner in Briggs Paul Dowding in Sydney from 1992 to 1994, and a managing partner of DCH Legal Group in Perth from 1993 to 1996. Since 1996, he has practiced family law. In 2002, he was appointed asSenior Counsel in Western Australia.[2][4] He was a recipient of aCentenary Medal in 2003.[2]
Dowding divorced his third wife[2] and onBoxing Day 2004, he married for the fourth time at theRound House inFremantle.[62]
As of 2022, Dowding lives inSouth Fremantle.[63] In August 2023, he released a book co-authored withKen Spillman about the life of his uncle,Bruce Dowding, who was part of theFrench Resistance and worked to smuggleAllied servicemen out ofNazi-occupied France in 1940 and 1941. He was eventually caught by theGestapo and executed in 1943.[64][65][66]
| Parliament of Western Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member for theNorth Province 22 May 1980 – 15 January 1986 With:Bill Withers,Tom Stephens | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member forMaylands 8 February 1986 – 26 April 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Premier of Western Australia 25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Treasurer of Western Australia 25 February 1988 – 28 February 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theLabor Party in Western Australia 25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990 | Succeeded by |
 | ||
