Bevan Ernest Lawrence, a retired Western Australian
barrister and
Liberal[1] political campaigner, is the older brother of
Carmen Lawrence, a former
Laborpremier of Western Australia. In the 1980s he was a convenor of two notable lobby groups that influenced the course of government at federal and state levels.
In 1987, he was a spokesperson for People Against the
Australia Card, a lobby group he founded with Professor
Martyn Webb, 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.[2]
People for Fair and Open Government (PFOG) was established by Lawrence in 1989[3] shortly after the re-election of a
Labor state government led by
Peter Dowding earlier that year. Group members included
Paddy O'Brien,[4] who was a celebrated public figure of the group.[5]
The group was formed after earlier Labor governments, led by
Brian Burke, had made questionable deals with business groups, a situation commonly referred to as
WA Inc. By early 1990
Carmen Lawrence had replaced Dowding as premier[6] 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.[7]
The public stances by the brother and sister over issues created a trail of news stories about them.[8][9]
In 1991 Lawrence published what he regarded as a conservative itemisation of the government's actual losses. The total he estimated as A$877 million.[10]: p389
Lawrence also wrote reviews of books about corruption and government at the time, in other Australian states such as Queensland.[11]
Lawrence was regularly mentioned in federal politicians' comments about the Royal Commission, as well as political overviews of the era.[12][13][14]
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.[15][16] He also kept up public arguments with the status quo well into the late stages of his career.[17]
^Lawrence, Bevan (2002), "Paddy's vision and the campaign to expose and combat WA Inc", Power and Freedom in Modern Politics: 89–104, 231, 243–248,
ISBN978-1-876268-79-4
^Moon, Jeremy; Stone, Bruce, 1953- (2002), Power and freedom in modern politics, University of Western Australia Press,
ISBN978-1-876268-79-4{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^O'Brien P. and Webb M. The Executive State--WA Inc & The Constitution, Constitutional Press (Perth) 1991.
ISBN0-646-04875-9;
^Lawrence, Bevan (1 June 1991), "Corruption and Reform: The Fitzgerald Vision", University of Western Australia Law Review, 21 (n1), University of Western Australia (Australia): 201–204,
ISSN0042-0328 of the book Queensland. Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct; Prasser, Scott (ed.); Prasser, Scott, 1954-; Nethercote, J. R. (John Raymond); Wear, Rae, 1950- (1990), Corruption and reform : the Fitzgerald vision, University of Queensland Press,
ISBN978-0-7022-2234-4{{
citation}}: |author2= has generic name (
help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^Stone, Bruce (1993), "Accountability reform in Australia: the WA Inc Royal Commission in context", Australian Quarterly, 65 (2): 17–30,
doi:
10.2307/20635717,
ISSN0005-0091,
JSTOR20635717