Lionel Frost Bowen, AC (28 December 1922 – 1 April 2012) was an Australian politician and senior Labor Party figure, serving in the ministries of

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the h ...

and Bob Hawke. He was

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, althoug ...

from 1983 to 1990.

Personal life

Bowen was born in the Sydney suburb of Ultimo. His father left the family when Bowen was aged 10 years and Bowen's mother looked after her invalid brother and elderly mother, while working as a cleaner. Bowen was educated at Cleveland Street public school, Marcellin College Randwick and Sydney University where he graduated with a LLB in 1946 and became a solicitor. He served in the Second Australian Imperial Force from 1941 to 1945, reaching the rank of corporal. Bowen and his wife, Claire, married in 1953 and had three daughters and five sons. He lived in the same home in Kensington for 73 years. His son, Tony, was a mayor of the

City of Randwick The City of Randwick is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1859, Randwick is the second-oldest local government area in New South Wales, after the City of Sydney. It comprises a ...

Political career

Bowen was elected to Randwick Council and became Mayor in 1948. He served in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1962 to 1969, representing Randwick, before being elected to the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor- ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, to the seat of Kingsford Smith in the House of Representatives. From 1972 to 1975, he served successively as Minister for Manufacturing Industry,

Special Minister of State The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, elector ...

and Postmaster-General in the Whitlam cabinet. Bowen played a relatively quiet role in politics, preferring to work behind the scenes. A significant achievement came when he served as acting education minister in the Whitlam government (during the illness and hospitalization of incumbent education minister Kim Beazley Senior), when he managed to split the opposition and win National Party support in the Senate for needs-based funding for non-government schools. When Whitlam resigned as Labor leader after his defeat at the 1977 election, Bowen contested the party leadership but was defeated by Bill Hayden and became Deputy Leader. He retained this position when Bob Hawke became Leader in February 1983. When Hawke won the March 1983 election, Bowen became

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and Minister for Trade in the first Hawke Ministry. In July 1983, he was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council and in the second Hawke ministry, he became Attorney-General, losing the Trade portfolio. In 1988, Bowen sponsored four

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

s to reform the Australian Constitution (see

1988 Australian referendum The 1988 Australian referendum was held on 3 September 1988. It contained four referendum questions, none of which passed. __NOTOC__ Results in detail Parliamentary Terms :''This section is an excerpt from 1988 Australian referendum (Parliament ...

), but all were defeated. He retired from federal politics prior to the March 1990 election, and was succeeded as Deputy Prime Minister by Paul Keating.

Post political career

Bowen served as Chairman of the National Gallery of Australia between 1990 and 1995 and shared a strong interest in horseracing. In 1990, he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in 1991, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia "in recognition of service to the community and politics." In 2001, he received a Centenary Medal. Bowen died from pneumonia on 1 April 2012 after years afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. He was given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of ...

on 11 April 2012.

Legacy

The Family Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Court are located in the Lionel Bowen Building in

Goulburn Street Goulburn Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Goulburn Street is in the southern portion of the Sydney central business district and runs from Darling Harbour and Chinatown in the west, ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

. The

main library is known as the Lionel Bowen Library. Lionel Bowen Park is situated in the suburb of Mascot.

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F075031-0006, Bonn, BMJ, Abkommen mit Australien.jpg, Bowen with German Federal Minister of Justice Hans A. Engelhard in April 1987 File:Goulburn Street, Sydney.jpg, The Lionel Bowen Building in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Lionel 1922 births 2012 deaths 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kingsford Smith Members of the Australian House of Representatives Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Attorneys-General of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Companions of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Australian Army personnel of World War II Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in Australia Deaths from pneumonia in New South Wales Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Mayors of Randwick Councillors of Sydney County Council Government ministers of Australia Australian Army soldiers