Alline Dawn Lawrie (born 3 November 1938) is an Australian former politician. She was the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member for

Nightcliff Nightcliff is a northern suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. History Although the origin of the name Nightcliff has always been surrounded by conjecture and controversy, the naming can be tracked back to 8 September ...

in the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...

from 1974 to 1983; in the First Assembly, she and fellow independent Ron Withnall were the sole non-

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

members.

Early life

Lawrie was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1938. She moved to Alice Springs in the 1950s. She then settled in Darwin in 1960, where she worked as a public servant.

Career

Lawrie joined the Northern Territory Parliament in 1971, firstly as an independent member of the Legislative Council (1971–74) then as the independent member for

(1974–1983). After politics, Lawrie and her husband established a community newspaper, the ''Palmerston & Northern Suburbs'', which was published from 1983 to 1985. Lawrie was appointed as the first Regional Director for the

Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

in 1986. She served as the Administrator of the

Cocos Keeling Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

from 1988 to 1990 and was the first NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner. She is also a justice of the peace and a registered civil marriage celebrant. She is the mother of

Delia Lawrie Delia Phoebe Lawrie (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2016, representing the electorate of Karama. She was a Labor member from 2001 to 2015, and served ...

, former leader of the Labor Party and the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

in the Northern Territory.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrie, Dawn 1938 births Living people Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council Independent members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Cocos (Keeling) Islands administrators Women members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Centenary Medal Members of the Order of Australia