Peter Dowding

Peter Dowding
SC
24th Premier of Western Australia
In office
25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorGordon Reid
DeputyDavid Parker
Preceded byBrian Burke
Succeeded byCarmen Lawrence
Treasurer of Western Australia
In office
25 February 1988 – 28 February 1989
PremierHimself
Preceded byBrian Burke
Succeeded byDavid Parker
Leader of the Western Australian Labor Party
In office
25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990
DeputyDavid Parker
Preceded byBrian Burke
Succeeded byCarmen Lawrence
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
In office
8 February 1986 – 26 April 1990
Preceded byJohn Harman
Succeeded byJudy Edwards
ConstituencyMaylands
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
In office
22 May 1980 – 15 January 1986
Preceded byJohn Tozer
Succeeded byTom Helm
ConstituencyNorth Province
Personal details
Born
Peter McCallum Dowding[1][a]

(1943-10-06) 6 October 1943 (age 81)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Political partyLabor Party
Spouse4
Children4
Parent
RelativesBruce Dowding (uncle)
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
ProfessionBarrister and solicitor

Peter McCallum Dowding[a] SC (born 6 October 1943) 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.

Dowding graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Laws, and he subsequently worked as a solicitor and barrister. In 1980, he was elected to the North Province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, representing the Labor Party. He entered the Burke Cabinet when Labor won the 1983 state election and changed ministries several times over the ensuing years due to cabinet reshuffles. At the 1986 state election, Dowding transferred to the Legislative Assembly, winning the safe seat of Maylands.

In December 1987, Premier Brian 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. He was sworn in as the premier as scheduled on 25 February 1988.

Following controversy caused by WA Inc, Dowding became unpopular. On 12 February 1990, he resigned as premier and leader of the Labor Party ahead of almost certain defeat in a Labor Party leadership spill. He was replaced by Carmen Lawrence. Dowding soon resigned from parliament, and went back to practising law. The royal commission into WA Inc was scathing of Dowding, saying that he "presided over a disastrous series of decisions".

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Constitutional Centre of Western Australia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Parliament biography was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Kennedy 2019, p. 137.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference SC announcement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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