Bevan Ernest Lawrence, a retired Western Australian barrister and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political campaigner, is the older brother of

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) 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. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

, a former

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

premier of Western Australia 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 bra ...

. In the 1980s he was a convenor of two notable lobby groups that influenced the course of government at federal and state levels.

Education and profession

Lawrence attended Aquinas College and studied law at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, graduating in 1966. He commenced practising in 1968, specialising in insurance law.

Political activism

In 1987, he was a spokesperson for ''People Against the

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1 ...

'', a lobby group he founded with Professor

Martyn Webb Martyn Jack Webb (29 September 1925 – 19 January 2016) was a professor of geography and writer on issues of governance. An Oxford graduate, he was foundation Professor of Geography at the University of Western Australia. Robson ALecture theatr ...

, which organised a public rally of over 40,000 people through the centre of Perth in September 1987 in a synchronised national protest that led to abandonment of the relevant legislation by the Hawke Government. The issue had been a trigger for the 1987 double-dissolution election. ''People for Fair and Open Government (PFOG)'' was established by Lawrence in 1989 shortly after the re-election of a

state government led by

Peter Dowding Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who served as the 24th Premier of Western Australia, from 25 February 1988 until his forced resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parli ...

earlier that year. Group members included Paddy O'Brien, who was a celebrated public figure of the group. The group was formed after earlier Labor governments, led by Brian Burke, had made improper deals with business groups, a situation commonly referred to as

WA Inc WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, 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 ...

. By early 1990

had replaced Dowding as premier and the terms of reference for an inquiry into the dealings were delivered to her by PFOG in mid-1990; a Royal Commission of Inquiry was announced in November the same year. The public stances by the brother and sister over issues created a trail of news stories about them. In 1991 Lawrence published what he regarded as a conservative itemisation of the government's actual losses. The total he estimated as 877 million.O'Brien P. and Webb M. ''The Executive State--WA Inc & The Constitution'', Constitutional Press (Perth) 1991. ; Lawrence also wrote reviews of books about corruption and government at the time, in other Australian states such as Queensland. Lawrence was regularly mentioned in federal politicians' comments about the Royal Commission, as well as political overviews of the era. As a long term resident of Nedlands he has been instrumental in supporting sport in his area as well as being a councillor of the

City of Nedlands The City of Nedlands is a local government area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about west of Perth's central business district. The City is situated within the western suburbs of the metropolit ...

. He also kept up public arguments with the status quo well into the late stages of his career.Sunday Trade Is a Health Hazard
at ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'', 9 August 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Bevan University of Western Australia alumni Living people People from Dongara, Western Australia People from Northam, Western Australia Lawyers from Perth, Western Australia Year of birth missing (living people)