George Lawson (Australian politician)

George Lawson (14 August 1880 – 25 November 1966) was an Australian trade union official and politician.

The Honourable George Lawson
Member of the Australian Parliament for Brisbane
In office 19 December 1931 – 2 November 1961
Preceded by	Donald Cameron
Succeeded by	Manfred Cross
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
In office 18 August 1919 – 23 March 1922
Personal details
Born	George Lawson 14 August 1880 South Pine River, Queensland
Died	25 November 1966 (aged 86) Ashgrove, Queensland
Resting place	Pinnaroo Cemetery
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Rebecca Jane Buchanan (m.1907 d.1918) Kathleen Lally (m.1935 d.1994)
Occupation	Trade union organizer

Lawson was born in South Pine River, near Caboolture, Queensland, and educated at Warner State School. He fought in the Boer War in South Africa with the 5th (Queensland Imperial Bushmen) Contingent in 1901–02 and was mentioned in dispatches. He married Rebecca Jane Buchanan in 1907 and they had two sons but she died in 1918. In 1907, he helped found the Brisbane Trolleymen, Draymen and Carter's Union and was elected its secretary in 1908. The union later became the Carters and Drivers' Union and in 1912 he was elected its general secretary, a position he held for almost twenty years. He was president of the Trades and Labour Council of Queensland in 1924 and 1927.[1] At the time of his election to the House of Representatives, he was secretary of the Road Transport Workers' Union.[2]

Political career

Lawson was elected an alderman of the Windsor Town Council from 1916 to 1921 and appointed as an Australian Labor Party member of the Queensland Legislative Council in 1919, and helped bring about its abolition in 1922. He was elected the member for Brisbane in the Australian House of Representatives in the 1931 elections. In 1935 he married Kathleen Lally. With the election of the Curtin government in 1941 he became Minister for Transport, but lost his position in the ministry after the 1943 elections. After Labor's defeat in 1949 elections, he was a strong supporter of H. V. Evatt and opponent of both communists and groupers.[1]

Lawson retired from parliament in 1961. He died at his home in the Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove in 1966 and was buried in Pinnaroo Cemetery.[1][3]

Notes

1. Cross, Manfred (2000). "Lawson, George (1880–1966)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 5 November 2007 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
2. "MR. GEORGE LAWSON". The Brisbane Courier (23, 062). Queensland, Australia. 29 December 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 6 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
3. Lawson George Archived 26 July 2014 at Archive.today – Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 20 July 2014.

External links